


The Beach

by Valxoxo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Bisexual James Potter, Bisexual Male Character, Character Death, Drama & Romance, Established Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, F/F, First War with Voldemort, Gay Regulus Black, Gay Remus Lupin, Gay Sirius Black, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Horcrux Hunting, Invisibility Cloak (Harry Potter), James Potter is a Good Friend, Jegulus, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Mentioned Marlene McKinnon, Multi, POV James Potter, Peter Pettigrew Being An Asshole, Peter Pettigrew is a Little Shit, Plot Twists, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Quote: I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good (Harry Potter), Remus Lupin & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, The Marauder's Map, Werewolf Remus Lupin, Young James Potter, Young Love, Young Regulus Black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29787291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valxoxo/pseuds/Valxoxo
Summary: As Regulus get closer to being of age, James worries that Regulus will join the dark side. James could easily save him from signing his soul to the devil... or so he thought.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Regulus Black/James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	1. A/N

I haven’t seen a lot of Jegulus fanfics out, so I decided to make one.

There will be some Jily, but Jegulus is endgame. 

Hope you enjoy:)

note: I do not own any of these characters, and I do not support JKR transphobic views. 


	2. Summer of 1977

_August 12th, 1977_

”Padfoot?” James whispered, standing over Sirius’ bed. Sirius was sleeping soundly with one of his hands in his long, dark hair. He shifted in his sleep a little, and muttered something in French James couldn’t quite understand. 

“Padfoot.” James nudged him a little. 

“Fuck off,” Sirius said, voice a little scratchy from being asleep. He turned on his side so his back could face James. 

“Sirius.” James said louder this time, hoping Sirius would get up. 

Siruis said nothing. 

“Do you not wanna see Moony today?” He asked, smiling. He knew if anyone could get him out of bed, it would be Moony. James thought him and Sirius were the cutest couple. He was taken by surprise when he first figured out the two were dating, but he supported them a hundred percent. He felt stupid though, for not noticing the signs. Of course that’s why when Sirius would even slightly touch Remus, Remus would flinch. Or when Sirius was wearing nothing but towel after showering, Remus’ face would get red. Or that time Remus got a lap dance from Mary, Sirius got jealous. It was so painfully obvious, but yet he didn’t notice.

He was too involved in his own realtionship with Lily, who just recently took an interest in him. It took her six bloody years, but she finally did. James Potter had everything he might’ve possibly wanted now. He had the girl of his dreams, the best mates a person could ask for, he was head boy, and he had the best parents in the world. His life was perfect. 

“Moony!” Sirius eyes quickly opened as he sat up, searching the room. Once he realized Remus wasn’t in the room, he let out a loud groan, and flopped back in bed.

”Oh Shove off, He’s not even here.” He grunted, kicking James in the leg. James laughed, and sat down beside Sirius. Sirius nudged him with his foot to get up, but James didn’t move. 

”Of course he’s not here yet,” He chuckled. “But, he is supposed to be coming with Lily in a couple of hours. Unless you want your boyfriend to see you like... this, then I suggest you get up.” 

“What do you mean?” Sirius flipped on his back so he could see James. “I look hot.”

”Not with slobber on your mouth, mate.” 

  
Sirius mumbled something about how early it was, but he eventually got up. 

He made his way downstairs to eat breakfast. It was only eight, but today had to be perfect since he was seeing Lily for the first time this summer. James couldn’t remember the last time he had actually woken up this early. Probably when he was at Hogwarts. Him and Sirius usually never got up until noon, and would go to sleep at four in the morning. Euphemia would always make a fuss about it, saying how the boys needed to start going to sleep earlier since the school year was approaching. James guessed she was right. They were starting school in less than a month.

“Good morning mr Potter sir,” Dinkly, the Potter house elf greeted him.   
“Good morning Dinkly. Could you make me some French toast, please?” James asked, sitting down on one of the chairs in the island.

The elf started to cook instantly, and James got out the daily prophet and started to read it. There was another attack on muggles. Two people were killed. A girl, who was only 14 years old, and a man, who was 32. James sighed, and put the paper down. Everything was perfect, except for the fact that the wizarding world was caving in. It was terrible. It made James angry how his parents wouldn’t let him fight in the war. He wanted to do something. He couldn’t just sit back and let things happen. 

“Morning kiddo,” Said Fleamont, coming around the corner with a cup of coffee. He looked tired, and was still wearing his clothes from yesterday.  
”Rough night?” James asked, giving him a tight smile.

”I know you read the paper.” Fleamont grunted, sitting down beside him.

“And I know you stayed up all night.” 

Fleamont gave him a long stare before he called Dinkly to fill up his coffee cup.”Don’t worry about me. It’s just been a long night.” He sighed.

  
“But dad, you seem stressed.” He whined. Dinkly brought Fleamont his coffee, and James his French toast. It smelled sweet, and just like cinnamon. He topped it off with bananas and blueberries, and put syrup all over them. He started eating right away, not wanting his breakfast to get cold.

”Where’s mum?” He asked between bites.

”Work. She got called in early.” Fleamont looked around the kitchen, noticing it was too quiet. A certain black haired boy was missing.   
“Where’s Sirius?” Fleamont questioned.

”Shower.”   
  


Fleamont shrugged, and got up. He walked over to the window, and stared out at their beautiful garden. They had a few quidditch rings as well for James and Sirius. They barley used it though this summer, both being busy with going to parties, sneaking out, smoke sessions, going to pubs, stalking Severus, and so many other things. James hated to admit it, but he loved it when it was just him and Sirius. Of course he loved Moony and Peter, but him and Sirius had a bond he didn’t share with anyone else. Afterall, Sirius is basically his brother.

”Mr Potter Sir, what do you think mr Black would want for breakfast?” Dinkly stuttered. 

“Bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast.” James replied, positive he had gotten Sirius’ usual breakfast meal correct. He knew Sirius like the back of his hand.

”Ready to see Lily?” Fleamont teased, coming back to sit down beside James. James instantly grew red, and tried to hide his smile behind his face. James hadn’t seen Lily all summer because Lily had to relocate her family for while so they would be safe. Lily just got back into town, and was staying at Mary’s for a while until her family came home as well. James couldn’t wait to see her. To smell her. To touch her. To hear her laughs. He couldn’t wait.

After a while, Sirius came downstairs. His hair was in a ponytail, with a few strands in the front out. He had on a white shirt with a black leather jacket and some black jeans. He wore his black converses, and he even shaved his face.

”someone’s ready to see their boyfriend.” Fleamont laughed, acknowledging how well Sirius was put together. Sirius did a slow 360 spin as he had his hands out, grinning.”No nasty stuff, but Remus is gonna be on knees when he sees me.” Sirius smirked, walking over to the island.

“Gross.” James groaned, slumping down in his chair. Fleamont just laughed, and patted Siruis on the back. “Hey, you lot are of age now. I can’t say anything about... y’know.” 

”Just don’t tell mum.” Sirius put his finger on his lip, and made a shushing noise. Fleamont made the noise as well, and walked out the kitchen.Sirius took the spot Fleamont was sitting in, and put his arm around James.

”Me and you. We’re getting laid tonight.” He whispered in James’ ear.

”Oh—you know Lily, she doesn’t get down like that.” James muttered, looking down at his empty plate. 

“So you mean to tell me that you and Lily have been dating since March and haven’t even shagged yet?” He gaped at him. James couldn’t tell if he was surprised, or making fun of him. James rolled his eyes, shoving Sirius’ arm off of him. 

“We don’t want to rush it.” James muttered. The truth was, he was terrified to do it. He always heard stories of how the boys would ‘do it wrong’, and he always heard terrible stories of how the boys would finish too fast. He would ask Sirius, but Sirius never had sex with a girl(atleast not that he knew of), so he wouldn’t know how to pleasure one either. But then again, it’s Sirius Black. He’s good at everything. 

Dinkly brought Sirius his breakfast, which occupied him enough. James got up and went back to his room to clean it, just in case Lily did come inside of his room. 

His room was across the hall from Sirius’. There was a atleast four guest rooms in the house as well, so if Lily and Remus wanted to stay the night they could. Although he figured if Remus wanted to stay the night, he would just sleep in Sirius’ room. Him and Lily had never slept together, so he was sure she would probably want a guest room.

He walked into his room, and he never noticed how dirty it was until now. There was empty cans on the floor, food wrappings, clothes, books, shoes, and balled up papers. His room was a dark red color with one dark blue wall. He had a king sized bed in the middle, and posters of his favorite quidditch team, Chudley Cannons. He had photos of him throughout all his years of Hogwarts. His favorite photo was the one of him, Remus, and Siruis when they had came over his house for the first time during Christmas break in their second year. His second favorite was him and Lily’s first date. He had his arm around her, and she was kissing him on the cheek. Sirius was in the back making bunny ears behind James’ head. Smiling, he shook his head and got to cleaning. Time flies when you’re having fun. 

It didn’t take him long for him to clean his room. After a few cleaning spells, his room was spotless. He went over to his desk, and picked up the letter Peter had sent him yesterday. Peter was currently in America, and wasn’t coming home until next week. 

_Dear Prongs,_

_I hope summer is treating you well. Knowing you, you’re probably going mad on a quidditch broom right now. Things are great here in America. Mum hates it here, but I think it’s cool. I wouldn’t live here, though. I just really miss my mates, Y’know? Tell Sirius I said hello, and I can’t wait to see you lot._

_Wormtail.  
_

_  
  
_

__

”Moony!” Sirius shouted, holding his arms out for Remus to hug him. He had the biggest smile on his face, and his blue eyes were twinkling of happiness. Remus took no time before he jumped into Sirius’ arms, embracing him like they haven’t seen each other in years. James swore he saw a tear run down Sirius’ cheek. 

“Tu m’as manqué, mon petit loup.” Sirius whispered into Remus’ neck. Remus let out a small laugh, not knowing what the hell Sirius just said.

”He said he missed his little wolf.” Lily translated. She was standing in the doorway, smiling. James couldn’t take his eyes off of Lily. Her hair was nicely curled, and she had on a green polo cropped t shirt with a white skirt. James was ignoring how Remus and Sirius were snogging, and went straight to Lily. He took her hand gently, and led her into the house. He closed the door, and then focused his attention on only Lily. He tilted her head up to get a better angle, and slowly kissed her. 

James felt like a million fireworks were going off in his brain. He hadn’t kissed her in a month. A long, painful month without Lily. He never wanted to do it again. He didn’t want to let Lily out of his sight. After a few seconds, they broke the kiss, and he couldn’t do anything but smile at her. 

“I’ve missed you.” He whispered, running his fingers through her hair.  
“Y’know, Sirius said it way more romantically. The whole French act.” She giggled, putting her hands onto his shoulders.   
“Well, Y’know Sirius, a show off.” He grinned, wrapping his arms around her waist. Remus and Sirius were already gone. He could only guess where they went. Lily had never been to the Potter Manor before, so he showed her around. They ran into Fleamont, and he officially met Lily for the first time. The three of them sat in the living room together and did a little catching up. 

“We went to Spain. It was so lovely there. I miss it already.” She sighed, leaning back into the couch and closing her eyes.

”Seems like you had fun without me?” James pouted, poking his bottom lip out at her. Lily laughed, and kissed him on the cheek. “Of course I missed you as well.” 

”Young love,” Fleamont smiled, shaking his head. ”I remember when I was just like you lot. Head over heels in love with your mum.”

“Uh-“ Lily and James muttered at the same time. They never said that word to each other. James knew he loved Lily, but he didn’t know if she loved him. He didn’t want to say it until he felt like Lily was ready to hear it. Fleamont noticed the awkward tension, and changed the subject. 

”So Lily, what are your plans for after Hogwarts?”

“I wanna become a healer.” She smiled.

“You would make a wonderful healer. Y’know, Euphemia is one. I’m sure she has so many wonderful books that would help you.”

”I would love for that. Where is she, anyway?” Lily questioned.

“Work. Got called in early because of Y’know... the incident.” James muttered. Lily’s face fell, and so did Fleamont’s. No one said anything after that. James couldn’t imagine what Lily was going through. She was a muggleborn. She had to go through the fear of hoping she would make it to see the next day. James wouldn’t know what to do with himself if something bad happened to Lily. He wanted to protect Lily for the rest of his life. 

Remus and Sirius came back downstairs. They were both smiling, and James could smell they had just did it. He hated having heightened senses due to his anamagi. He gave Sirius and Remus and knowingly look as the sat down on the sofa across from them. 

“Remus!” Fleamont grinned, putting his arms out for Remus to hug him. Remus have Fleamont a big hug, and patted his lightly on the back.

”Haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks.” Fleamont scolded, ruffling Remus’ hair. Remus smiled, and sat back down beside Sirius.   
“My mum and dad wanted to spend time with me. They said I run off too much.” Remus rolled his eyes. 

“I’m glad your back.” Sirius said, smiling.

After a little catching up, Fleamont left, and let the kids do what they wanted to do. Sirius had managed to get them all tickets to see their favorite muggle musician, David Bowie. The show started at four, and it was only eleven. They still had time. 

“Let’s go to Hogsmeade to kill off time.” Sirius suggested, standing up from the couch and stretching himself out. He didn’t have his ponytail anymore. His hair was out, falling down to his shoulders. 

They all agreed, and made their way outside to apparate. 

“We’re leaving dad! We’ll be home by ten!” James shouted, then he closed the door.

_____  
  


”You can walk yourself,” Remus groaned. He was giving Sirius a piggy back ride, annoyed at how Sirius kept digging his foot into Remus’ stomach. 

”Oh Remus, Don’t you just love me?” Siruis cooed. Remus rolled his eyes, “Sure, yeah Pads. I love you.” 

Lily made an _awwing_ noise, smiling. Remus flipped her off, and she just laughed. 

They went to an ice cream shop, and they all decided to share one big Sundae. It was cool in the ice cream shop, and smelled of sprinkles and vanilla ice cream. It was the perfect day it get ice cream since it was 95 degrees outside. 

“Aren’t you hot with that leather jacket on?” Remus asked, pulling on the jacket. “Yeah, but I look cool? Cool triumphs hot.” He shrugged, smiling at Remus.   
  
“You’re going to be sweating before we can even get to show. You should take it off.

Sirius let out a groan, and pulled his wand out to do some sort of spell that would help keep his body at a cool temperature.

”You happy now?” He muttered.   
“Oh typical Sirius. Doesn’t like to be told what to do.” James sighed, shaking his head.   
“The dog does what he wants at the end of the day.” Sirius winked. Lily looked confused while all the other boys snickered at Sirius’ joke. 

“What’s up with you guys making animal jokes all the damn time? Especially Sirius?” She asked, a confused look on her face. Her asking just made the boys snicker even more like some immature eleven year olds.   
“What?” She threw her hands up. “I’m so serious.” 

The little door ringer went off, and to their surprise, Marlene came in. James hadn’t seen or heard from Marlene since school ended. She had some fancy sunglasses on her head, with a red sundress and wedged heels. She had definitely been somewhere with a lot of sunlight, because she had a mean tan as well. 

“Marlene!” Lily gasped, getting up from the table. Marlene turned around, and her face instantly brighten up when she saw them.   
  
“Lils! Hey!” She rushed over and gave Lily a hug. After a short moment, she let go. She looked at Lily, and smiled. “You look good! James must be giving you that quidditch d-“ 

“Hey Marlene. I see you still have a dirty mouth.” James said, getting up to greet her. James didn’t want to tell her that him and Lily hadn’t done anything yet. He didn’t want to embarrass Lily like that. Marlene gave James a brief hug, then went over to Remus and Sirius. 

“Too in love to talk to your old friend?” She asked, taking Lily and James’ spot. They both leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Remus kissed her left cheek, while Sirius kissed her right. She grinned at them, “That’s more like it.” 

Lily and James made her scoot down so they could sit again. They asked Marlene if she wanted ice cream, but she declined it.   
“Then why’d you come in here?” Sirius asked. 

“I wanted a bottle of water.” 

“Speaking of water, have you been practicing for quidditch?” James asked, giving her a scolding look. Marlene bit her lip, slightly rolling her eyes.

”James, you didn’t even practice.” Sirius barked.

“Hey, I’m captain. It doesn’t matter.” He shot back. They all laughed, and James felt like an idiot. He couldn’t ask Marlene about quidditch when he hasn’t even played in a month. He needed to get back on track. 

Marlene went on about her hookup with some guy she met at a party. Lily was really the only one listening. The only thing James could remember, was that his name Tony. She then blabbered on about how she ran into Alice and Frank sometime last week. They were planning to have a winter wedding, and arranged it so it could be over Christmas break. Alice was only a year older than them. She had just graduated Hogwarts, and was already settling down.

”A bit fast if you ask me. Dont you wanna live before you throw yourself out there to be a wife for the rest of your life?” Marlene went on, playing with the straw in her glass.   
“Well, I mean it’s traditional to get married after Hogwarts. The younger you have kids, the better.” Lily shrugged. James dryly gulped. Did that mean Lily wanted to get married and have kids with him right after Hogwarts? The thought of James being a dad at such a young age made him feel uneasy. He didn’t know how to take care of babies. 

“How’s Pete doing?” Marlene changed the subject.   
“Oh, he’s doing alright. He’s coming home next week.” James told her. Marlene nodded, and took a sip of her water. She looked at the time, and stood up. 

“Oh Merlin, I have to go. It’s almost three. I enjoyed seeing you lot,” Lily and James let her out, and she gave everyone a hug and waved goodbye. After she left, they decided it was best if they went on to the concert. 

Since there were so many muggles out, they couldn’t apparate directly to the concert. They apprated to some back alley in London, and took the bus from there. It only took about thirty minutes to get to the location of the concert. The entire ride, Sirius would choose someone and just stare at them with the straightest face. After a while, the person would get uncomfortable and move. Then, Sirius would chose a different person. James told him to stop, but Sirius wouldn’t listen. Sirius called it a game of staring contest, but with one playing instead of two. 

The concert was loud, and had flashing lights that made James’ eyes hurt. There was a total of sixteen songs that were played. James and Remus shouting lyrics in his ears the entire time. It made James happy to see his mates happy. Lily was dancing to to the music as well. Her hips slightly swaying, and her hands up in the air. James wished he brought his camera so he could capture the exact moment when Lily jumped up, her hands were tangled in her hair, and she was laughing. She was so gorgeous.   
  


James’ favorite song was Heroes. It gave him and nostalgic feeling that shot threw his veins, and made his heart thump. It reminded him of of that same free feeling he had as he rode his broom. The feeling that he could do anything, and he could be whoever he wanted to be. He embraced the lyrics, and let them take over his body. He found himself dancing along with Sirius, Remus, and Lily. They were all in a circle, spinning eachother around uncontrollably. At that moment, all James could think about was how free he felt. No war, no growing up, no NEWTs, no trying to prove himself. He was free. 

____

”Three firewhiskeys, please?” James asked the waitress. They found themselves in a muggle pub he didn’t even know the name of. It was around eight, and they decided to spend the rest of their night getting drunk. 

“Remus, you’re coming home with us right?” Sirius asked, resting his head on Remus’ shoulder. Remus looked down at him, and poked his lip out.   
“I don’t see why I wouldn’t.” 

“Good. Because I’ve missed you.” Siruis slightly laughed. James looked over at Lily, who got butterbeer instead of firewhiskey. She looked tired, but she was still sitting there with a smile on her face. There was glitter in her hair from the concert, and it was all on her cheeks as well. James wrapped his arm around her, looking down at her. 

“Are you staying as well?” He asked.   
“I don’t have clothes.” She muttered.   
“I have a shirt or something you can wear to sleep.”   
“I don’t have a toothbrush.”   
“You can use mine.” He told her.

She looked at him, and let out a small laugh.   
“What?” He asked, with his hands out.   
“You want me to stay so bad, you’re willing to share a toothbrush with me?” 

James bit his lip, and mad a slight humming noise. “To be fair Lils, we kiss. That’s already swapping saliva and other germs. Would a toothbrush really hurt us?” 

“I suppose not.” She grinned. 

“So you’ll stay?” His eyes lit up.

”Fine. Yeah, but I need to get in contact with Mary so she won’t think I’m dead or something.” She said, taking a sip of her drink. James smiled, and looked around at the pub. It was packed, and smelled of alcohol. His smile slowly faded when he saw a certain someone walk into the bar.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” he grunted, taking his arm off Lily. Sirius and Remus looked where James eyes were as well, and they had the same reaction. 

“Fucking Snivellus.” Sirius hissed. Lily eyes softened, and she looked around to see him. Sure enough, he was there. He was alone. He was sitting in the corner with his head down, slowly drinking something. 

“He’s such a fucking loser.” James laughed. Lily hit him, and James gaped at her. 

“What? You wanna go over and talk to him?” He asked sarcastically.   
“He’s minding his business. Don’t go over there messing with him.” Lily demanded. Both Sirius and James let out a scoff. Lily looked at Remus, who threw his hands up. 

“Don’t look at me. I can’t control them.” 

“Bet he’s here drowning himself because the girl he loves is with me.” James said in a cocky tone. Angry, Lily stood up.   
  
“Let’s go. Now.” She almost shouted. The boys quickly got up, and made their way to the door. James looked over at Severus, and saw him look in their direction. Snape eyes fell on Lily, so James grabbed her, and kissed her. James wanted Snape to know that Lily was his. Snape looked away, and took another sip of his drink. 

“What the fuck!” Lily shouted, pushing James harshly. They were now outside, about to apprate back home.

”You’re such an ass!” She fumed.   
“Why do you even care about him? He’s fucking seventeen now. He has a death mark. I bet he does. He chose his side. He doesn’t need any-“ 

Lily’s fist went straight to James’ nose, causing it to break. “Fuck!” He hissed, grabbing his nose. Remus grabbed Lily, and tried to walk her away from James.

”No! I’m going back to Mary’s tonight. I thought you changed, James. You too Sirius. You both are immature fucks.” She snapped.

Remus let go of her, and she apprated away. 


	3. Year 7: Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW for homophobia and abuse

_September 1st, 1977_

”It’s a shame you won’t be sitting with us. We were going to give you and Lily a hell of a show.” Siruis smirked. James rolled his eyes, and let out a scoff. 

“A hell of a show? You mean Remus reading and you smoking while saying whatever comes to mind? And let’s not forget Pete eating everything in sight.”   
“Yes, my dear friend. I’ll see you later.” Sirius gave him a hug, and ruffled his hair. Before James could walk off, Sirius grabbed his hand. James looked back at him, and Sirius had a serious look on his face now. 

“Talk to her.” He said in a low voice.

”I’ll try.” James replied. Sirius let go after a moment, and sat back down beside Remus. Peter was on the other side, eating while looking at some muggle magazine. 

James sighed, and made his way to the headboy/headgirl compartment. This was something he was not looking forward to. And to make matters worse, Lily was still mad at him. He tried everything. He wrote her letters, wrote Mary letters, he even showed up at Mary’s house. Lily wouldn’t come out though, so he gave up.

”You just patrol the train, and make sure nothing bad happens....” James heard Lily telling some of the new prefects. She was dressed head to toe in her school uniform, and her hair was down and nicely curled. James stood there and waited for Lily to finish talking. When she was done, he slowly approached her. She was now talking to the headgirl of Hufflepuff, Abigail Makenteir.

”Hey, Lily.” He muttered, tapping her slightly on the shoulder. 

“Potter.” She turned around, coldly greeting him. The way she said his last name made him think about when they were younger. When she didn’t like him, and she thought he was too immature. It made shivers go down his spine. He didn’t like it when Lily called him by his last name.

”Abi, I’ll talk to you later.”

Abigail smiled, and nodded at James before she walked away. Lily lead James to an empty seating, and they sat across from eachother. 

“I’m a dick, Lils.” He sighed, rubbing his face.

”That you are,” she muttered. Crossing her arms.

”You have to understand that I’ve known Severus since I was child. We’re neighbors. You cant expect me to go all cold on him because we date.” 

James laughed.”He’s the same one who called you a-“ 

“A what James? Say it. I dare you.” Her voice grew colder as she looked at James with an unreadable expression. It was almost as if she was having flashbacks from that day. It happened almost two years ago, but it still felt like yesterday. James,Sirius,and Remus beat Snape up for calling Lily that. How dare he call Lily that, when he is a halfblood? Severus was nothing but a joke for people to laugh at. 

“Lils, I would never call you that.” His face softened. He wanted to reach out and touch her, so she’ll know that he’s being serious. He would never hurt Lily. 

She sighed, and looked out the window.   
“I just can’t believe you. It doesn’t matter what he said to me two years ago. He obviously is going through a lot right now. He doesn’t need you and Sirius making his life any worse. You don’t need to rub in his face that you got me, and he didn’t. It’s not some competition. I’m tired of you and him going back n’ fourth! I just want you to be mature for once. Most of the time, Sev doesn’t even bother you guys. You all are just so fucking immature you love picking on people for no reason. You love the fact that you’re a fucking goddess at this school, and people love you. You love the attention. You love that Sev is under you. You just love being a fucking dick!” She shouted at him. 

James sat back, and let her yell at him. He deserved it.   
“I’m sorry. I really am.” Was all he could say. Lily stood up, so he did as well. She was breathing fast, and her face was a light color of red. It wasn’t often when Lily would lose her temper. James felt jealous that Lily was getting this worked up over Snape. He didn’t think Lily would ever defend his name like this.

”Promise me you’ll leave Severus—and the rest of the Slytherins alone?” She whispered, running her hands threw his messy, black hair. 

“I’ll try.” He smiled down at her. She rolled her eyes, and walked over towards the door. 

“Go patrol. We talk later.” She nodded her head towards the door, and She left.

He first went to the Ravenclaw compartment, and looked in all the private seatings to make sure no one was fighting, or just doing something stupid. There was a couple making out, but he didn’t say anything though. He didn’t want to be one of those type of headboys. Those types were the worst. Some Hufflepuffs were smoking, he just told them to let a window down. When he got to Gryffindors, he saw that Siruis and Remus were sleeping. Peter was up, staring at them with an odd expression. 

When Peter found out about Remus and Sirius, he started treating them differently. James got onto to him, and told him that if he didn’t stop there was gonna be some issues. James didn’t play when it came to Remus and Sirius. Peter had gotten so bad, he stopped changing infront of Remus and Sirius.   
  


_“I don’t want you anyways, Pete. look at my boyfriend. He’s way hotter than you.” Sirius shouted out as Peter went into the bathroom. He had his school clothes in his hands, not wanting to Change in the dorm anymore._

_”just leave em, Pads.” Remus muttered, putting his hand on Sirius’s shoulder._

_”No, I won’t fucking leave it. He’s a fucking homophobe. And what makes it worse, we’re his fucking friends! He’s just mad because no bitch would ever lay up with him.” Sirius spat._

_Peter slowly opened the door back up. He had on nothing but pants, and his blue eyes were dark, and cloudy as he stared Coldly at Sirius._

_“What did ya say mate? I didn’t quite hear you.” Peter said. Sirius harshly nudged Remus’ grip off of him, and slowly walked over to Peter. So close, it made Peter back up on the wall. It was obvious that Peter was scared of Sirius.  
“Look at you. No bitch would want that.” Siruis spat._

_“You had to turn queer because no one wanted you.” Peter muttered. Both James and Remus gaped at Peter. It was very bold, but yet a very wrong statement. Everyone knew that, even Peter himself knew._

_Sirius jacked Peter up by his shirt,”Do you know who the fuck I am? I’m Sirius fucking Black. I have girls on me 24/7. I’ve had more girls flash their tits to me than you can even count. You probably haven’t even seen tits. And you know what? All those fucking girls I had on me, and I didn’t want a damn one of them. I’m gay, and still have girls ready to take their panties off for me. Admit it Pete, you’re a jealous ass nobody who lives in everyone’s fucking shadow. You wish you were me!” Sirius yelled. Every word Sirius spoke, Peter would flinch. Sirius was mad, and no one could stop him. James and Remus stood side by side, watching it all unfold._

_“I’m not scared of you.” Peter found the courage to say. Sirius looked down at his wet pants, and laughed._

_”They why’d you pee your fucking pants?” Sirius knocked him against the wall, and Peter winced.”You wanna make fun of me for being queer? I could make fun of you all day”_

_Sirius threw him onto the ground, and Peter let out a loud cry._

_“Don’t ever. And I mean EVER, Say something about me and boyfriend again. I will fuck your ass up? Do you hear me Pettigrew?” Sirius shouted. He was red, and was visibly shaking. James and Remus grabbed Sirius and dragged him out the room, leaving Peter there crying on the ground.  
_

_—_

No one ever brought that day up. James shook off the thought, and quietly walked in.

”Hey Pete.” He whispered, standing at the door. Peter snapped out of his trance, and looked over at James.

”Hey,” he muttered back. He looked back at the sleeping couple, and let out a sigh.   
“I think I was just jealous, that’s all.” 

James sat down beside him, and looked at Remus and Sirius as well.

”He doesn't care anymore. I bet he forgot.” James said. Peter looked down, biting his lip. James felt bad for him. It was obvious he had some insecurities, and it didn’t make it better that he was friends with the three most popular boys in school. James still thought he was a bit of prick sometimes. 

After a while, James patted him on the back, and got back up.”Have to do my headboy duties. I may come back. I dunno, though. I think I have to sit with them” 

Peter swatted his hand, and smiled.”You go ahead. I think I’ll read.” 

James nodded, and left the compartment.

He left Slytherin for last because he didn’t want any trouble. He didn’t want Lily getting any more mad at him, and he just didn’t have the energy to fight with anyone today. He slowly looked into each window. Some of the were just casually talking. There was two kids with a blanket. He grimaced, and kept walking. No way In hell was he going to try to figure out what they were doing under that blanket. 

The next compartment he came up on though, they were talking. He hadn’t looked in yet, but he could tell who it was. Snape and Regulus. They must’ve forgot to put a silencing spell up.

”Your birthday is February 21st. You’ll be lucky if they wait til the summer.” Snape grunted.   
“When did you get yours?” Regulus asked.

”Spring Break.”   
  
“Did it hurt?” 

There was a long silence before anyone said anything else. “Of course it hurts.” Snape muttered. 

“Do you really support him?” Regulus questioned.

Snape laughed,”You wanna chicken out, don’t you?”   
“No. I’m ready.” Regulus stammered. James could tell in his voice Regulus was scared. They stopped talking, so James guessed they finally put up a silencing spell. 

James kept walking, not wanting to get caught listening on their conversation.

He knew Regulus since he was in second year. Regulus had dark curly hair, with blue dull eyes. He resembled Sirius a lot. The only differences they had was that Sirius was more outspoken than his little brother. James hated that Regulus was going down such a dark path. If Regulus just asked for help, he could get it. James helped Sirius, so there was no doubt he could help Regulus as well.   
  


James thought about Regulus Black for the rest of the train ride. 

____

“Hey bitches!” Mary shouted, smiling brightly at everyone. She sat down beside Marlene, who hugged her. They started talking about boys, so James turned his attention to everyone else. Lily was sitting right beside James. Across from them, was Mary and Marlene. Sirius and Remus were sitting beside Mary, and Peter was sitting on the other side of James. 

“Marauders meeting after dinner.” James grinned, giving the boys a knowing look.

”uh I hate to break it to you, but we have duties, remember?” Lily said. James groaned, and ran his fingers through his hair. Lily laughed, and squeezed his arm.   
“So, you two okay?” Remus asked, pointing at Lily and James. 

“I dunno, are we?” James questioned. Lily nodded her head, smiling.”We’re okay.” 

Dumbledore made a long, and awfully boring speech about how this year is going to be great year. James swore he drifted off to sleep atleast four times. When the plates flipped over though, he was wide awake. James found it terrible how they put a bunch of kids on a train for seven hours and didn’t give them any food but sweets. It’s like they want them to starve so they’ll eat all the feast food. 

Today they were serving roast, gravy, rice, chicken, greens, pudding, biscuits, and so many other things. James had to hurry up and eat because head people and prefects had to leave early to show the first years around. 

After eating, him and Lily showed a group of first years where everything was. They showed them their classes, where the common room was, they told them the password for this year, and even went over their Schedules and answered any other questions they had. 

When they were done, it was nearly nine. Lily kissed James goodnight, and rushed upstairs to her dorm. Tired, he slowly walked up to his dorm.

When he opened the door, Remus and Sirius had already taken a shower, and Pete was taking one. James threw himself onto his bed, and let out a sigh.

“Tired?” Remus smiled. Remus was sitting criss cross on Sirius’ bed, while Sirius had his legs to his chest.  
“Yeah. But, we need to have a meeting. It’s been too long since we sat down and talked.” James said.  
“Hopefully Pete is done with being a fucking cunt.” Sirius hissed. Remus gave Sirius that look, and Sirius rolled his eyes. 

“I heard your brother and Severus talking.” James blurted. Remus and Sirius both looked at him, confused.   
“Lily shook you up that bad you’re using his real name?” Sirius joked. James sat up, and he took his glasses off. He rubbed his eyes, and then put his glasses back on. 

“He needs help.” Said James. James knew somewhere deep in Sirius’ heart, he loved Regulus. Sirius tried so hard to ignore it, though. James could tell. But this was no matter to ignore. Regulus was going down the wrong path. 

“Regulus knows what’s good and bad. He’s just a fucking coward, that’s all.” Sirius shrugged, lighting a cigarette.

”He needs your help. By the way he was talking earlier, he was sc-“

”Regulus knows what’s right from wrong! If he needs fucking help James, he would ask for it! Stop going around thinking you can fix everyone.” Sirius cut him off. James opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. Sirius was right, Regulus wasn’t his business. 

Sirius sighed, and walked over to James’ bed. James sat there on the edge of his bed, looking down. He felt useless.   
“I didn’t mean to yell, Prongs. But just leave Regulus to do whatever he wants. If he does want to leave the dark side, he would say something.” Sirius patted James on the back, then walked over to their window ledge and sat down. After a while, Pete came out the shower, so James went and took one. 

James let the warm water warm down his back, giving him a tingling sensation. He thought about the night Sirius came to his house after it happened.

_Sirius had bruises on his face, his clothes were tore up, his lip was busted, and as soon as he got inside the house, he collapsed onto the floor._

_His parents had beaten, and Tortured him for not swearing his allegiance to the Dark Lord. The image of Sirius laying unconscious and bloody in his hallway was embedded in his mind. James was Hysterically crying while Euphemia was trying to preform spells on Sirius to wake him up. Sirius was only fifteen, and James was still fourteen. He thought Sirius had died. Every memory that he had with Sirius flashed before his eyes._

_If Sirius died,James wouldn’t get to graduate with him. He wouldn’t get to win their last quidditch cup with him, he wouldn’t be able to to move in with Sirius, James wouldn’t be able to tell Sirius how he finally gotten Lily to fall in love with him. James wouldn’t be able to talk to his kids about his years at Hogwarts without crying. Sirius couldn’t die._

_James remembered staying up that entire night. Euphemia had managed to get Sirius stable, and had took him to the guest room so he could rest. James read to Sirius as he slept. It was silly, but it was the only thing that calmed James down. Euphemia_ _swore she would never let Sirius go back with those monsters. James knew his parents were bad, but he didn’t know they were this bad. James never wanted to see Sirius like that again. Not ever._

James wondered if the same thing would happen to Regulus. That thought made his throat feel dry, and his vision started to get blurry. He wanted to help. There was still a few months before Regulus would turn seventeen. He could convince him to switch sides. It can happen. It was going to. 

The four boys went to sleep, too tired to even do a meeting.


	4. Year 7: A Very Wicked Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of cursing, and drinking in this chapter. Read at your own risk!

_September 2nd, 1977_

”Well fuck me,” Said Sirius, looking over his schedule. Remus leaned over as well and looked at it. His eyes narrowed as he skimmed over the parchment, then he sucked his teeth. 

“Why the hell are you taking astronomy?” Remus asked, making an odd face at him. Sirius threw his hands up, “What? James is taking it as well.” 

James looked up from his breakfast, and over at Moony and Padfoot. “I’m taking because I actually want to. Not to make terrible jokes about my name.” 

Sirius rolled his eyes, and put his schedule back in his bag.”You would do the same thing if your name was Sirius.”   
“You sure?” James asked, smiling.   
“Yeah, I’m so Sirius.” He laughed, but no one joined in. If it was first year, everyone would’ve been cracking up when they heard the joke. But seeing as they’ve been hearing it for seven years straight, it’s not funny anymore. 

“Typical Sirius.” Lily muttered, putting butter on her toast. 

It was the first day of classes, and James felt like he didn’t get enough sleep. Peter was snoring loudly all night, and he heard Remus get out of bed atleast three times. He sometimes hated sharing a dorm, but it had its good times. 

“Doesn’t feel weird to start school on a Friday?” Marlene said, furrowing her eyebrows and pursing her lips together. She looked up at Mary, who shrugged her shoulders. 

“Yeah, a little. But atleast there’s a party later on.” Sirius shrugged, fixing himself some more coffee.

Every year there was a welcome back party, and James was badly looking forward to it. James was a party animal, and couldn’t see his life without parties. It’s something about the loud rock n’ roll music, drinking, flashing lights, the party games, the thick air, and dancing, that just set him off. 

His last party he went to was a Muggle party. It was around early August, and he only went because Sirius was going. He needed to keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. Sirius didn’t even know who the boy was that invited him. But in the end, it was one hell of a party. When James woke up, he had a full face of makeup on and was taped to someone’s closet door. He couldn’t remember what happened that night, he just knew it had to be fun. 

“Prongs?” He heard Remus call out. He snapped out of his thoughts,”Yeah?”   
“What’s your first class?” He asked.   
“Potions.” He replied. Remus let out a sigh,“You mean to tell me I have Charms with Lily and Mary?” 

“You love us though, don’t you Moony?” Mary pouted as she wrapped her arm around Remus’ arm. He made a slight hissing noise, and smiled.”Yeah Mary, I guess you could say that.” 

James looked over at Lily, who he hadn’t talked to all breakfast. They said good morning to eachother in the common room, and then walked silently to breakfast together. James guessed they both had just been thinking about their first day back. Lily could become a new person when she is focused. She zones out, and doesn’t listen to anything or anyone. James found it cute how focused she could get. 

“Do you want me to walk you to class?” He asked, slipping an arm around her. She looked up at him, and instantly broke a smile on her face. “No, James. But thanks for the offer.” 

James made a slight humming noise, “I think I still will.” 

“I have potions as well, James. We can sit together.” Marlene said. James nodded, and looked in Pete’s direction. “What’s your first class?” 

“I have History of Magic with Sirius.” Peter replied, a sausage hanging out of his mouth. James nodded, “Is there a class we all have together?” 

“You know they would be absolutely mad to put all of us in one class together.” Lily giggled.   
“She’s right, that’s mad.” Remus added, finishing his last piece of bacon.

”It was worth a shot.” James grumbled. 

___  
  


James was walking Lily to class, holding her hand as she talked about NEWTs. Her hand was warm between his, and it was soft as well. James didn’t ever think he could get used to this. Her voice sounded faint as he zoned out and studied her features. Lily’s face was always readable. James could tell when she mad, happy, sad, scared, or just calm. Today, she looked stressed. She threw her hands up and moved them as she talked. 

“James?” She called out, snapping her fingers in his face.

”Oh- Sure Lils.” He muttered, nodding his head. She stopped walking, so he did as well.   
“You weren’t listening to me, were you?” She put her hands on her hips, and cocked an eyebrow up at him.   
“Of course I was.” 

“What did I say then?”   
“NEWTs?” He responded, hoping he got it right. She sighed, and kept walking. They were coming on the charms classroom. Only another thirty seconds or so, and they would be there. Remus and Marlene were infront of them, far ahead. 

“I was saying how Hogsmeade weekend is next weekend. Me and you should go on a date. _Alone_.” She said the last word harshly. James understood her, though. Every date they’ve been on someone has tagged along. James never found anything wrong with it. 

“Of course we can go alone.” He smiled. They made it to the door, and they stopped and faced eachother. He gave her a hug, then kissed her on the cheek. 

“I’ll see you in defense against the dark arts.” He whispered, Caressing her cheek. She smiled,“See you. Give me my bag.” 

James almost forgot he had been carrying her bag this entire time. “No, no. I’ll put it in the classroom for you. I have time.” He didn’t actually have time, and he would already be late to class, but he could use some lame excuse that he was helping some first years find their class. 

Maybe being headboy wasn’t so bad. 

Before Lily could protest, James went into the classroom. Their class was not only shared with Slytherins, but it was shared with sixth years as well. He put Lily’s bag in the seat beside Mary, and made a silly face at Remus before he left. Remus laughed, and swatted at him to go away. 

Just as he was about to leave the class though, his eyes fell on the person who was sitting in the far back. 

Regulus Black.

He was sitting beside Mulciber, quietly talking to him. Mulciber would nod occasionally, but they would never look at eachother. Both of their eyes were trained to the front of the classroom. 

James thoughts trailed off to last night, and what Siruis had said. 

_”Regulus knows what’s right from wrong! If he needs fucking help James, he would ask for it! Stop going around thinking you can fix everyone.”_

James sighed, and left the classroom. It wasn’t his business. No matter how much James wanted to talk to him, to persuade him to come over to the right side, he knew he shouldn’t. Regulus wasn’t his brother, or even his friend. James has only said about five words to Regulus his entire time at Hogwarts. Why would Regulus listen to him? Regulus probably wouldn’t even listen to Sirius. 

He just didn’t want to see Regulus throw his life away. Regulus had no role models to show him what’s right from wrong. Of course there was Sirius, but the two brothers fought constantly. Sirius wanted nothing to do with Regulus, and Regulus wanted nothing to do with Sirius. All of Regulus’ friends were either death eaters, or were going to become one soon. His parents were no better, who was basically giving him away to the Dark Lord. 

James didn’t think Regulus was a coward, he just thought he had no one in his life to set a good example.   
  


_____

Since James was nearly ten minutes late to class, all the seats were taken, except the one beside Snape. Marlene gave him an apologetic look as he walked by. The seat she did try to save for him, got taken by some Ravenclaw boy who was terribly failing at hitting on her. 

A great way to start the year off. 

He sat down, not saying anything, or even looking in Snape’s direction. He got out his book, and listened to Slughorn teach today’s lesson. They were staring off on something simple since it was the first day. 

They were given the assignment to make a laughing potion with their partner. Everyone else got to work, while Severus and James sat there for a moment. Neither of them wanted to talk first. 

James cleared his throat, ”I’ll get the ingredients.” He got up, and walked over to the back to get the ingredients off the shelves. Marlene was there as well. 

“I’m going to kill you,Marlene.” He hissed, looking for some Billywig Wings. 

“I’m sorry!” She whispered-shouted, searching the shelves for something as well. 

“It can’t be that bad, though.” She muttered. James shrugged. “He’s not talking to me. So I guess it’s fine.” 

James gathered all the ingredients. It consisted of Spring water, Alihotsy leaves, Billybig leaves, Knarl quills, puffskein hair, Horseradish power, and laughter.” 

“You’re dead, Marls.” He said before leaving. She said something else, but James was already heading back to his desk by then. He put all the ingredients on the desk, and Snape finally looked up at him. 

“Do you even know what to do?” He snarled. 

  
“Of course I do. I got an outstanding in potions.” 

Snape made a huffing noise, then stood out of his seat. “You were about to add the horseradish first, that goes in last.” Severus noted. James slowly put the jar back down on the table, and looked at Severus. He wanted to punch him right then. How dare he try to boss James around? James did fine in potions without him. He would do fine this year. 

“Alright mate, then you do it.” James snapped. Severus rolled his eyes, and put the Spring Water into the cauldron. James sat down, and watched him as he added ingredients. James would never say it out loud, but Snape was very good. He never second guessed himself as he added something in. He knew the exact order, he knew how to stir, when to stir, and how fast to sir. 

”Laugh.” He said. James sighed, and tried to think of something that would make him laugh. He thought about pushing Sev’s head down a toilet, then flushing the toilet. 

He laughed, and Severus just rolled his eyes at him. After James was done, Severus handed him the horseradish.   
“You can put it in now.” He muttered. 

James sprinkled some in, and the potion turned to light blue. James smiled, and even Severus looked a little relieved that it worked. They were the first people to finish, so they waited for everyone else. Slughorn came by and was very pleased with their potion. He even announced out loud that James and Severus did a great job. James swore he saw Severus blush a little. 

James looked over at Marlene, and she was filing her nails while the Ravenclaw did all the work.  
He chuckled,”Typical Marls.”

“What?” Severus head snapped out of his book, and he looked James directly in the eyes. His cold gaze made James feel a bit uneasy.   
“Nothing. I was talking to myself.” 

“Surprised Lily’s schedule isn’t the exact same as yours.”

Just him saying her name made him flare up in anger. His fists tightened tightly, and he tried to control himself from not doing something stupid. He just got Lily to start talking to him, he didn’t want to mess things up again. 

“Don’t talk about Lilly.” He gritted through his teeth. 

“Why can’t I talk about Lily? She’s my friend.”  
  
“You got some nerve saying Lily is your friend after you called her-“

”I didn’t mean to say it!” Snape banged his book onto the table, making James flinch a little. 

“You’re nothing but a immature piece of shit. You will mess up. I can already sense it. And when you do, I’ll be there for Lily.” 

Before James could say another word, Severus was rushing towards the door, heading out the classroom. 

_____

His next class after potions was Herbology, which he had with Remus. Remus wasn’t paying attention and let the bouncing bulb slip out of his hands, and hit him right across the face. James thought it was funny, but Remus didn’t. He had a bruise on his left cheek for the rest of the day. 

After Herbology was lunch. For lunch, they had chicken sandwiches. Lunch was quick, and barley anyone talked unless they were asking about classes or for someone to hand them something. It was only noon, and James already felt like going to sleep. He was glad that he didn’t have a double class today, because those were the worst. You have to sit in the same class for three straight hours, and James could barley handle sitting in one for an hour and thirty. 

After their lunch, they had defense against the dark arts. Seeing Lily reminded him of what Snape said. He was stupid. Lily wasn’t going anywhere. He would be dammed to let Severus take his spot. He would rather die than watch that happen. 

Him and Lily dueled together, and James let her get the upper hand. She had turned his legs into jelly, making him flop helplessly onto the ground. When he asked her to undo the curse, she walked away. 

Their fourth class of the day was charms. He had charms with Peter. James hated having classes with Peter, because all he did was ask dumb questions and he never knew what was going on. James was happy when the class was over. 

His last class of the day was Care of Magical Creatures. It was probably his favorite class, because he had it with Remus and Mary. They all sat together, and watched as their professor brought out a golden snidget. Mary started screaming insanely loud when it landed on her head, swatting her hands around and violently shaking her head so it would go away. James tried his best not to laugh, because he knew he would probably do the same thing. 

James didn't get to shut his eyes good before Sirius was bothering him.   
“C’mon! There’s a party in two hours! No time for sleeping. We need to get this party together because we all know that the girls will be too busy putting on makeup or whatever.” 

Sirius grabbed James by the arm, pulling him Up. “You go down to the kitchen and get food with Pete. Me and Remus is gonna set this shit up while y’all do that.” Sirius patted him on the back, and pushed him towards the portrait. 

“Yes mum,” James muttered before he left. 

Him and Peter got a bit of everything, since they didn’t know what everyone ate. The party was only for fifth years and up. They made a mistake by letting fourth years party last year. They got terribly drunk, and didn’t even try to hide it. Every single older kid got detention for ‘pressuring the younger kids into drinking’. 

When they got back, Sirius and Remus had managed to make the common room bigger, all the chairs and couches were gone, and the rug was transfigured into a dance floor. There was a disco ball, and some tables where the food and drinks were supposed to go. Remus was gone, and Sirius was hanging up streamers and other decorations. James laughed to himself, and sat the food on the table. 

“You sure know how to set a party up.” James chuckled, hitting Sirius a bit. Sirius looked at him with a sly smirk. 

“This is our last welcome back party. We gotta make it big.”   
“Way to ruin the mood, Padfoot.” James groaned. He was trying to think about everything but the fact that it’s their last year here. He felt emotionally attached to Hogwarts. It’s were he met his friends, his girlfriend, and had the most awesome memories of his life. He wanted to spend the rest of his life here. 

“Where’s Remus?” He asked.   
“Getting drinks.” Sirius replied, very focused on hanging something. James thought he’d help out, so he got the music ready, he charmed the lights so they would be red, and he put out cups and plates. 

By the time they were done, Remus had came back with a box of drinks, and people were starting to come down now. 

It didn’t take long for the dance floor to get crowded, and for James to get that feeling in his stomach. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion while he was shuffling through people to get a drink. He saw Sirius and Marlene, who were dancing violently to the music. Then there was Mary, Remus, Pete, and a couple of other people who were playing some card game. If you lost, you had to take off a piece of clothing. Remus already had his shirt off, and so did another girl. His eyes went to the stairs, where he saw Lily slowly coming down. 

She had on a silk black dress, that showed too much skin if you asked James, but she looked stunning. The dress clung onto every curve, and it was spaghetti strap. James nearly dropped his cup. 

Her hair was in a ponytail, with two curly strands in the front. She had on red lipstick, and was going for a Smokey eye. James had never seen Lily like this before. They both locked eyes, and Lily motioned for him to come to her. 

So he did. 

In the matter of seconds, he had Lily pinned to the wall, making out with her. Their hands were roaming eachother’s bodies, eager for eachother’s touch. James slightly gasped when Lily’s hand went up his shirt. Her hand was soft, and warm against his chest. He grabbed her hand, and led her up the stairs.

They were in the empty, dark, hallway now, stuck on eachother. they couldn’t get to James’ dorm without bumping into a wall, or onto someone’s door. James slid his hand up Lily’s thigh, and listened as her breath hitched. 

“Okay?” He whispered. She nodded, so James went further up her dress. He pressed kisses on her jaw as he slipped his hand in between her thighs. He let out a low breath at how warm, and soft Lily was. She put both her legs around him, so he picked her up. 

It felt like something out of a movie scene. The two were still making out as he carried her down the hallway. James couldn’t even walk straight; or even think straight. He was about to take Lily Evans to his bed. 

He opened the door, and hoped it was the right room. He practically threw her on the bed, and proceeded to take his shirt off. She watched him, eyes filled with curiosity and hunger. 

He gently pushed her back, and made his way between her legs. He kissed her neck, no doubt leaving marks and nips. He went from her neck, to her chest, and she let out a small whimper. James hummed, and kept going. He could feel himself twitching in his pants. He didn’t know how long it would be before he lost it. 

Suddenly, the light turned on. 

“Oh!” Peter covered his eyes as if someone was actually naked, and ran out the room. Lily squealed, while James just looked at the door with his mouth slightly open. 

They were both breathing fastily, and was trying to process what had just happened. Out of all the months they’ve been dating, they never did anything like that. 

“Let’s go back to the party,” she said after a few moments of silence. She gave him one last kiss, and then got up. He was putting on his shirt as she looked at herself in the mirror. She sucked her teeth, and turned to look at James. “I have a hickey!” 

“Just cover it up!” He groaned. He was the one with a boner. There was no way in hell he would be able to cover it.  
  


The two slipped back down to the party as if nothing had happened. The whole night consisted of drinking, dancing, and playing games. They played a muggle game called seven minutes in heaven, where two people had to go into the closet and together for seven minutes. James had gotten Peter, who had just earlier walked in on him and Lily kissing. Peter awkwardly looked at him, and for some reason, James started to feel embarrassed. He didn’t regret what happened with Lily, he just really didn’t want to talk about it. Especially not with Pete, who judges everyone and everything. 

“So you and Lily.” He muttered after a few minutes of silence.

“We were kissing, Pete.” James said, a little annoyed.

  
“Oh.”   


“I wish I had a girlfriend.” Peter said a few moments after some beats of silence.   


“Don’t worry Pete,” James grinned. “You’ll get a girlfriend.” 

“I hope so. Even Sirius and Remus have eachother. I have no one.”   


James didn’t know if Peter was trying to throw slick comments, but James ignored it. He was far too buzzed to try to argue with Peter. 

“I’m so fucking hungry.” James groaned after hearing his stomach growl.  


“There’s some sandwiches.” Peter suggested. 

“I might have to eat one. Because I’m so-“

”Times up!” A Gryffindor boy opened the door, freeing Peter and James. James was glad to be out of that tight space, and back into the party. 

Remus and a sixth year went in afterwards. Remus looked like he wanted to die of boredom when he came out.

”She kept telling me she could make me like girls, and I should come to her dorm tonight.” Remus grimaced, taking a sip of his drink. 

Sirius laughed so loud, it make James’ ear ring.”Look at Moony, he’s getting girls.” Sirius playfully pushed him, and Remus pushed him back. 

“Shove off, you’re the one who had three girls spell the bottle so it could land on you. And it still didn’t.” Remus grinned. 

“What can I say? I’m a ladies man.” Sirius kissed Remus on the cheek, then flagged Marlene down so they could dance again. 

James looked around the crowded room, and saw Lily standing in the corner dancing with Mary. She was laughing at something Mary had said. He saw Mary look over at James, and Lily hit her arm and they started to laugh. He was no where near Lily, but he could still hear her laugh. It was embedded in his mind, and it replayed over and over again. He smiled, and took a sip of his fire whiskey. 

At some point, they started doing Karaoke. James and Sirius singed (more like slurred the words) _Changes_ , by David Bowie. James remembered Sirius had stopped singing, and just started dancing. The group singed and cheered along with them, not doubt just as drunk as them. 

The party didn’t end until three in the morning. People were laid out on the ground, passed out; Pete being one of them. He had on no shirt, and there was a smiley face drawn on his stomach. James was so drunk, Remus had to carry James to his bed.   


Remus carefully laid James into bed, and took off his shoes. James was smiling at Remus the entire time, making a smile twitch onto Remus’ face as well.   
“what?” Remus asked, pulling the covers tightly over James. 

“I fucking love you so much.” The words came out at an almost whisper, but Remus heard him. He then passed out, not even getting to hear what Remus said back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)


	5. Year 7: The Library

_September 3rd, 1977  
_ _  
__  
_

When James had woken up the next morning, he was surprised to find himself in his bed.

Remus and Sirius were still asleep. Sirius was at the foot of the bed passed out, while Remus was practically laying on his back; head buried into Sirius’ neck. James looked at the time, and it was only eight. 

James was surprised he woke up so early. He only had gotten five hours of sleep. He was glad today was Saturday, and he had some time off from school. He took a shower, rinsing last night off him. As soon as he got out, Sirius and Remus were standing at the door. He nearly dropped his towel at how startled he was. 

“What the hell?” He shouted, backing up a little. Sirius and Remus looked at eachother, then at James. 

“You and Lily had sex.” Sirius said, not even trying to sugarcoat it.   
“We didn’t have sex.” James muttered, pushing past the two boys. Of course, they followed him out of the bathroom, and to his bed. 

Remus smelled the air. “He’s telling the truth, pads. They didn’t have sex. But, Lily was up here.” 

Sirius eyes lit up. “She gave you a blowjob? Didn’t she!” He excitedly said. 

“No, Pete walked in before we could do anything.” James shrugged. Sirius let out a loud groan, and walked back to his bed.

”You’re going to be 60, and a virgin, mate.”   
“Respect them, Sirius.”

“It’s all jokes, mon amour. Prongs knows.” He winked and James, then made his way to the door. “I’m gonna see if I can catch breakfast. Coming Moony?” 

_____

When James got to the common room, Peter was still there, snoring loudly on the floor. He stepped over him, and all the mess on the floor. He went and sat by Lily, who was sitting on the couch with a mug in her hand.

“Morning Lils.” He said, Kissing her on the cheek.   
  
“Good morning.” She said back, smiling at him. James looked at her in awe. She had on a blue t shirt with some white pajama shorts. Her hair was in a messy bun, and she had on no makeup. She was gorgeous. He could get used to looking at her in the mornings. 

“Have you been up this entire time?” He asked, pulling her in so she could rest her head on his chest. 

“I woke up only an hour ago. I’m waiting for the girls to wake up. Marlene has the most terrible hangover. Poor thing was throwing up, and she refuses to go to the hospital wing.” She went on. 

“Oh, I hope she feels better.” James sighed. 

“Yeah, me too.” 

  
An awkward silence fell between the two. James wished he knew what Lily was thinking. What would’ve happened if Peter didn’t come in the room? Would they have kept going? Lily and James never really talked about sex, but James thought maybe now was the time. He didn’t want to, because it’s probably the most awkward thing to talk about. James wondered if Sirius and Remus ever had this problem. 

“Lils?”

  
“Hmm?” She hummed, looking up at him. 

“What do you think would’ve happened if Pete didn’t come in?” He slowly asked. 

”I think at some point we would’ve stopped before it got serious.” She muttered.   
“That’s fine. I mean- I was just asking because of last night, and-“ 

His sentence stopped by Lily’s warm lips pressing onto his. It was a slow, and steady kiss. He cupped the side of her cheek, and gently kissed her back as well. He wanted her to know he would wait. He would never make Lily do anything she didn’t want to. He wasn’t even sure he was ready yet either. 

James wanted to stay right there with her, and just take in her flower scent for the rest of the day. He knew he had things to do today. He forced himself to break the kiss, and stand up. He had a double potions class on Monday, and wanted to get an upper hand on Severus. He planned to go to the library today and read up on seventh year potions to learn more information. He hated that Snape was better at him in potions. 

“I should go. I have to go to the library.” He said, watching her face go from happy to confused.

“Let me come with you.” She stood up, and started to follow him. He would love to have a study date with her, but how would he explain that he was reading up on potions to beat Snape in class? She would flip, and probably punch him in the nose again. 

“Uh- no. It won’t be long Lils, I promise.” He hugged her one last time, and then gently kissed her head. He waved goodbye, then left to set off for the library.   
  


_____  
  


The library was basically empty, since it was a Saturday. No one ever really went to the library on a Saturday, especially not at ten in the morning. 

He ran his fingers over the bridges of the books, looking for a seventh year potions book. He was glad he put on a jacket, because it was cold in the library. When he found the book, he grabbed it, and sat down at a table near the window. It was cloudy today, with a bit of fog. Cloudy weather always made James feel like staying in bed all day. He tried his best not to get too comfortable so he wouldn’t be sleeping in the library.

As soon as he was about to start reading, his eyes flickered up, and met the gaze of someone who was sitting at another table. 

Regulus Black. 

He was staring directly at James, making the hairs on James’ neck stand up. James had never noticed how dark, and cloudy, Regulus’ eyes were until now. James and Regulus stared at eachother for what seemed like hours, then Regulus looked back down at his book. 

James didn’t realize he was holding his breath the entire time. He let out a low breath, sending shivers down his spine. 

He wondered what Regulus was doing alone, reading at ten in the morning. James tried to focus on reading his book, but he just couldn’t stop flickering his eyes up to Regulus.

He sighed, and stood up. It was like his legs were taking over him. He found himself walking towards Regulus, and sitting infront of him. 

Regulus slowly looked up at him, and he let out a sigh.   
“What?” He snapped. 

“You were staring at me.” James said.

“ _You_ were staring at me.” 

James didn’t say anything back. He just awkwardly cleared is throat, and began to read the textbook. It was odd sitting with Regulus. It was nothing like sitting with Sirius, or Remus, or not even Pete. It was a different type of presence. One that didn’t talk the entire time, or ask dumb questions, or one that played around while James was trying to study. This one was calm, and didn’t talk at all. It made James feel warm to know that he wasn’t alone, and someone else was sitting with him. Even if they weren’t actually talking to each other. Even if they aren’t even supposed to be sitting with each other in the first place.   
  


“Why were you in here reading alone?” The words slipped right off of James’ tongue before he could even think about what he was saying. 

“Why are you annoying the hell out of me?” 

“I’m Just asking a question.” James muttered. 

“Well stop asking questions. I don’t like it.” 

“You’re rude as hell.” James huffed. 

“Because I don’t like you.” 

“Why not?” James cocked his head to the side, and furrowed his eyebrows at Regulus. Regulus ignored his question, and put his attention back into his book. 

”Did my brother send you to spy on me?” Regulus suddenly asked, not looking up from his book. 

“No. You’re acting like I knew you were here, Black.” He snapped. He caught Regulus dark eyes flicker up at him, then flicker back down to his book.   
  


“Plus, you were all alone sitting here. I thought you may wanted company.” James added. 

Regulus let out a low sigh.”Potter, what do you want?” 

“Nothing. Can I not sit here?” James smiled. 

“No.” Regulus muttered, not returning a smile.

James stood, and Regulus looked up at him with his lips slightly parted. “Where you going?” 

“You said to leave, so I will.” James shrugged, grabbing his book off the table. 

“Fuck- Potter, I didn’t mean it like that.” Regulus said as James began to walk away. James stopped, and turned back around. 

“I just- I thought you were here to tell me something my brother said.” 

James sat back down. 

“No, I wasn’t.” 

Regulus said nothing.

James thought of the path Regulus was leading down, and how he wanted to talk to him about it. James didn’t think right now was the best time to talk about it. Regulus would no doubt get mad at him, and probably hex him. 

So he sat there, reading his book while Regulus sat across from him, reading his own book as well.   
  


_____ 

It was late at night, and the boys were finally having their first marauders meeting of the seventh year. James mind wondered to when they had their first ever marauders meeting. Their first prank they did on the Slytherins was putting baby spiders in their common room. All the Slytherins had red bites all over them for three weeks. 

They had transfigured Sirius’ bed into a huge couch so they could all sit down together. They even had leftover snacks from yesterday’s party, and they had some music going in the background. 

“We need to get them good. Did I tell you guys that Snape threatened that Lily would break up with me, and get with him?” James scoffed, taking a bite of his muffin. 

Sirius laughed, “He’s stupid as hell. Look at him, and look at you. Lily would be crazy to get with him.” 

“If Lily ever gets with Snivellus, that’s the day I’ll turn straight.” Remus muttered. Peter laughed, a little too hard, but instantly stopped himself when Sirius and James shot a look at him. 

“Anyways,” Remus muttered. “We should turn their water off. We haven’t done that before.” 

James eyes lit up, “That’s a great idea! They’ll all stink.” 

“But won’t they just do a spell to bring their water back?” Sirius asked. 

“We can charm it to ensure they can’t.” James added. Sirius nodded. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” 

“How will we do it?” Remus asked, putting his head into Sirius’ lap. 

“We will go to the water pipes, and freeze Slytherins water pipes. No water would be able to travel through.” Sirius said. 

“Where exactly are the water pipes?” James thought outloud.

“I dunno, maybe in the plumbing area?” Sirius sarcastically said. James rolled his eyes, and slapped Sirius in the back of the neck. 

“When will we do it?” Peter asked with his mouth full. James could barley make out what he had said. 

“Monday, after quidditch tryouts.” James said. 

Everyone nodded in agreement, excited to do their first prank of the year. 


	6. Year 7: The First Prank

_September 5th, 1977_   
  


The wind was brushing against James, making shivers go through his body as he sped through he air. He had the quaffle tucked tightly under his arm, and was headed straight for the hoop. He looked behind him, and saw that Cidny Dumbler was right on him, trying to steal the quaffle. He did a trick his dad taught him, and raised his hand to the left as if he was about to throw it. She went in that direction, and James laughed loudly, setting off for the right of the field, and throwing the ball to Sirius. 

“She doesn’t need to be on the team if she fell for that!” Sirius shouted before he zoomed off, and threw the ball into the hoop. Zyan cursed as the quaffle slipped right through his hands, scoring a goal. 

“Let’s go! 30-10!” James cheered, High fiving Marlene as she flew past him. James looked over at Sirius, who was smiling big, and his long hair was pulled up into a ponytail.

There were 14 people at tryouts, so they were split up into two teams. One team, The Great and Lovely Sirius(Sirius came up with the name), consisted of Sirius, James, Marlene, Katie, Christopher, Diana, and Tyler. The other team, The Best Players in the World, consisted of Micah, Luca, Seth, Lucy, Amanda, Cindy, and Zyan. James already had an idea of who he was going to put on the official Gryffindor quidditch team. 

Marlene was fast, and very observant, so he would make her seeker. Marlene was a chaser last year, but it wouldn’t hurt to switch things up. He was giving Sirius his title of chaser again, since he felt like Sirius was one of the best chasers on the team(James being the first one). Then there was Amanda and Christopher, who were both very strong, and were able to throw buldgers, and alert the team when buldgers were being thrown their way. Tyler was doing great at defending their hoop, so he thought he would make him the keeper. The last chaser role would go to Lucy. She was in fourth year, but yet very fast. James thought she would do well on the team. 

The game ended with The Great and Lovely Sirius winning. The score was 60-20. James didn’t want to say who made the team yet, because he still needed to think on it. He just told them it would be posted on the Great Hall doors by Wednesday.

While everyone went into the locker room to change, James and Sirius stayed back to organize the brooms.   
“This year is going to be great. I can sense it.” James said, putting a broom onto the hook. 

“I made the team, right?” Sirius asked, sounding a little insecure. James turned to face him, and let out a concerning laugh. 

“Of course Sirius... why wouldn’t you?” He nervously chuckled.

”There’s just so many new people trying out this year. I thought my spot had gotten taken.” He sighed, taking out his bun and letting his hair fall down. James locked up the brooms, and then made his way to the locker rooms. Sirius followed in behind him, saying something about how good Lucy was to be the youngest to try out. 

“Yeah, she was good. But yes Sirius, you got your spot as chaser. No one could ever take your spot.” 

“Me, you, and Marlene are chasers again this year? Fuck, This is about to be fun.”

”No, Marlene is a seeker this year. But don’t tell her.” James whispered. Sirius nodded, and they walked in silence the rest of the way. 

The locker room was hot, and smelled of sweaty socks and grass. James took a quick shower, and put on some jogging pants and a hoodie. Sirius was waiting for him, so they could walk up to the common room together.

The Slytherins had tryouts right after Gryffindor, and dinner was about to start. It was the perfect time to do their prank. Sirius went on about how he’s ready for the full moon on the 19th, so he can switch to his animagus form. 

“You’re acting like you don’t already switch when it’s just us in our dorm.” James snickered. Sirius slightly pushed him, and James pushed him back. 

“Y’know what I mean! I wanna run around! And shit, I dunno... bark!” Sirius shouted. 

“Again Pads, you already do that. No full moon needed.” 

As they went around the corner, they were met with a group of Slytherins approaching the field . “Damn it,” Sirius hissed under his breath. Mulciber, the team captain, was in the front, while the rest of the boys trailed behind him. Sirius and James stood side by side as they met the Slytherins in the middle. 

“Look what we have here,” Mulciber began, smirking at James and Sirius. James eyes fell on Regulus, who was staring deathly at his brother. James dryly gulped, remembering how they were sitting with each other in the library. Of course, nothing changed. Regulus was still on the other side. Just because they sat across from eachother in the library didn’t mean anything. 

Mulciber turned to Sirius, “A mistake,” He turned to James—grin even wider. “And a blood traitor.”

James didn’t even process what he was doing. He just knew Lily was brought up, and he acted. He swung at Mulciber, hitting him right in the jaw. Mulcibler was knocked onto the ground, and when he tried to get up, Sirius pulled him back down, punching him. 

The team was about to go in on both Sirius and James, but Regulus stopped them. 

“I’ll take care of them.” He announced. The team said some rude words to James and Sirius as they walked by, and Mulciber even spat at James. James was glad he missed though. 

Regulus walked up to Sirius. The two brothers were almost the same height. They both codly stared at eachother for a moment. James could feel the tension of the two brothers. He stayed right beside Sirius, just in case Regulus tried to throw a punch. 

“Frère,” Regulus began. 

“Stop causing trobule, before I tell maman.” Regulus hissed. Sirius rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.“That _bitch_ isn’t my mother.”

Regulus blinked at him, surprised at what Sirius just called Walburga. Regulus looked over at James. His stare was cold, and was like the one from yesterday. James returned the stare, and Regulus scoffed. 

“So this is your new brother now? You’ve replaced me with some quidditch junkie?” 

James felt a lump form in his throat. 

”James cares about me more than you’ll ever care. If you were really my brother, you wouldn’t have let it happen.” Sirius snarled, getting closer to Regulus. Regulus didn’t flinch, or lose eye contact with Sirius. 

“I was only thirteen. I didn’t know what to do! I was just as scared as you!” Regulus shouted. His voice broke as he spoke, and tears were forming in his eyes. James saw Sirius hand flinch out as if he was going to touch Regulus, but he put it back down. The two stood in silence, still not breaking eye contact. 

One of Regulus team mates called him, so he backed up, and started to walk around Sirius.

He looked at Sirius one more time, then walked away. 

When Regulus was gone, Sirius let out a sigh. He rubbed his face with his hands, and slowly started to walk towards the castle. 

“You okay?” James asked, putting an arm around him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just really glad you were there with me.”   
  


_____  
  


James and Sirius quickly rushed to the common room, trying not to waste anymore time than they already had. When they got there, Remus was pacing around the room, and Pete was nervously looking around.

As soon as Remus heard them come in, he stopped pacing. “Where have you two been? I thought quidditch ended at 5?” 

Sirius didn’t say nothing. He just walked straight up to Remus, and gave him a hug. Remus was confused at first, but he slowly wrapped his arms around Sirius, and kissed his forehead. 

“Is everything okay?” He whispered to Sirius. 

“We saw Reg.”   
“oh.” Remus’ face fell, and he hugged Sirius a little tighter. “It’s okay,” he muttered. “I’m here.” 

There were a few moments of silence. They let Sirius process what had just happened. James knew how hard it was for Sirius to talk with his brother. James remembered when Regulus was younger, and he would try to talk to Sirius any chance he got. Sirius would tell him to piss off, or would simply ignore him. Ever since _the thing_ happened though, Regulus never tried to talk to Sirius, and Sirius never tried to talk to Regulus. The rare moments they did talk, they just argued. James thought they needed to talk. They’re brothers, and if something happened to Regulus—or even Sirius, they’ll feel terrible for not talking to each other, and sorting their differences out.   
  
After a while, Sirius let go of Remus, and turned to James and Peter.   
“Let’s do this prank!” He shouted, clapping his hands together.   
  


____

“Fuck,” Sirius muttered. He stopped walking, making James bump into him. “What?” James hissed. He heard Remus make a _oof_ noise as he bumped into James as well. Peter was in his animagus form, squirming around in James’ hoodie pocket. 

“You keep walking all up on me.” Sirius hissed back.

“It’s not my fault this invisibility cloak can’t fit all three of us!”   
  
“Can you two keep going! We don’t have all day!” Remus snapped. Sirius kept walking, so James did as well. Sirius lead them down some creaky stairs, towards the basement. They were going to shut Slytherin’s water supply off, then go into each of their bathrooms and put some spells on their tubs, sinks, and even toilets, so they couldn’t bring the water back. It was a lot of work, and they only had about thirty minutes. 

When they got to the plumbing area, Sirius snatched the cloak off of them, and let out a sigh. “Oi, James, can you get a new fucking cloak? That one is getting too small.” He muttered, brining out his wand to use it as a flashlight. 

“I can’t buy a new one, you tosser.” James groaned. Pete hopped out of James’ pocket and started running around, making squeaking noises.   
  


“Just imagine, James. One day your kid is gonna be using this thing.” Sirius chuckled, holding up the invisibility cloak as if they could actually see it. 

  
“Let’s hope they don’t use it to do what we’re doing now.” He sighed, looking around the place. 

They came across a huge rusted machine, that had about 50 switches on it. Each switch was labeled with what it was for. James ran his hand along the switches, trying to find the one labeled for the Slytherin dungeons. The switches were dusty, and looked like they hadn’t been touched in years. 

“aha!” He said, pointing at the switch labeled ‘Slytherin D’. As he went to turn it though, Remus stopped him. 

“There’s some sort of spell on it. don’t touch it.” He said, blocking James’ finger from hitting it. 

Sirius groaned, “By the time you finish, the Slytherins are going to be back from dinner!” 

“Then you and wormtail go spell their bathrooms! Me and Prongs can figure this out.” 

“Wormy!” Sirius shouted, and a rat came running towards him. Sirius put his hand out, and Peter ran up his arm, and rested on his shoulder. Sirius gave James a ‘why Peter and not you’ look, but then walked away. He took the cloak, and put it over him. 

“Alright.” Remus hummed, rubbing his chin. Remus began removing the spells, and while he did that, James looked around. He was surprised there were no ghosts down here. It smelled like pennies, and it was damp. James was glad when they could leave, because he was hungry. 

He checked the marauders map, and Lily was with Mary in the common room. Marlene was in a closet with a boy named Darian Jones. James snickered. They were more than likely hooking up. He saw Snape was in the library, and Regulus was still on the quidditch field. He watched as Sirius and Peter approached the Slytherin dungeons. There were no Slytherins in sight, so that was good.

Remus finished removing the spells, then he shut off the Slytherin water. He then hurriedly put the spells back up, then high-fived James. 

“They’re going to smell so bad,” James laughed, walking up the stairs. 

“Imagine the look on their faces when they can’t turn the water on.” Remus snickered, putting his hand out for the marauders map, James gave it to him, and he skimmed over it. 

“What happened at quidditch?” Remus asked, eyes filled with concern. 

“Regulus. He—well, it’s complicated. Sirius brought up _that night,_ and Regulus got emotional.” James muttered. 

Remus sighed. “I wish they would just actually talk. They might be able to work something out. It’s obvious Sirius still loves his baby brother, and Regulus loves him as well. I just know it.” 

“Yeah,” James trailed off his sentence. “I think Regulus hates me.” James laughed, to fight back a crack in his voice. He felt terrible that Regulus felt someway about James’ family taking Sirius in. James wasn’t trying to steal Sirius away, he just wanted his friend to be safe.

”What makes you think that?” Remus asked.   
“When they were arguing, Regulus said that Sirius replaced him with me. Well actually—he called me a quidditch junkie.”

“I don’t think he hates you,” Remus softly spoke. “I think he’s just hurt. He’s hurt that Sirius left him in that house alone, to come live with you. I’m not saying it was wrong for you to take Sirius in, because it was the best choice. But, in Regulus’ eyes, he saw that as a lost. He lost his brother.”   
  


Remus stopped talking for a moment. “And what makes it worse, he has to watch Sirius make strong, and healthy relationships with everyone, but him.” 

Remus patted James on the back, and they walked in silence. James thought over everything he said. Remus was right. He was so right. 

_____

  
“Alright, everything was checked.” Lily sighed, putting her hands on her hips. 

“Alright.” James said. 

“I kinda don’t wanna go back to my dorm...” Lily muttered, brushing her hair out of her face.  
“I haven’t spent time with you all day.” She walked closer to James, and put her head on his chest. James wrapped his arms around her, and took in her flower scent. 

She wrapped her arms around James as well, and let out a sigh. The sigh didn’t sound like a bad one. It sounded like a happy sigh. Like one of those sighs you make when you can finally go to sleep after being up all day doing stuff. He held her tighter, and kissed her head.

”How was quidditch?” She asked, breaking their hug.   
“Oh—it was fine.” He shrugged. “I’m gonna have to get you out there.” 

“No.” She gasped.   
“Yes.” He smiled, taking her hand. They started walking down the dark hallway, not know where they were actually going. He didn’t want to go back to his dorm either. He wanted to be with Lily. 

“I’m not playing quidditch. That’s a death sentence!” She squealed. 

“I’ve been playing since I was 7. I think you’ll be just fine.” 

He pulled her hand up, and slowly kissed her knuckles. “Let’s go to an empty classroom.” He whispered so softly, he could barley be heard. Lily looked him for a moment. James could tell she was thinking. Her nose was scrunched up, and she was smiling. 

“I have a better idea.” She said, pulling James to follow her. 

“Lils!” He laughed, being practically dragged by her to wherever she was taking him. He twirled her hand around, and kissed her. He had been wanting to do that all day. Fireworks went off in his brain as she pushed up, and kissed him back. She placed her warm hands onto his cheeks, making them flush a little. 

She broke their kiss, leaving James wanting more. She grabbed his hand again, and ran with him through the empty hallways. He couldn’t help but to smile at her giggles. They met the corner of the hallway, and Lily pushed James on the wall, and kissed him again. 

She softly kissed his neck, making him let out a low groan. He placed his hands under her thighs, and nudged them up. She jumped up, wrapped her legs around him. He turned so she was on the wall, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. 

They stared at each other for a moment. Both Lily and James were smiling, just happy to be around each other. Lily had her hair down, and he could see her emerald green eyes perfectly in the dark. They were so lively, and so full with happiness. He kissed her. Her lips made his feel numb. They were so soft, and warm. He pressed kisses onto her jaw, and slowly traveled down to her neck. He didn’t think he could be any happier right now. 

“You need to stop caring about him, Regulus.” He heard a low voice say. He slowly put his head up, and dropped Lily down to the floor. 

“What-“

“shh!” He put a finger on her mouth, stopping her from talking.

”He’s my brother.” Regulus gritted through his teeth.

”He doesn’t give a damn about you. He’s made new brothers. A new family. He doesn’t _care_ about you, Regulus. You have us now.” The second voice said. 

He saw Lily’s face shift into a alarmed look.   
“Stay right here.” He mouthed to her.

He slowly walked around the corner to see Regulus and Mulciber standing in the middle of the hallway, talking. He breathing stopped for a moment. 

“I’m sick and tired of you thinking you know everything.” Regulus spat back. He got closer to Mulciber, and Mulciber bucked back. 

“What are you gonna do,little Black? I think you’re pathetic-“

“Hey! It’s passed cerfew. I suggest you get your asses to bed before I give you detention.” James stepped in. Both Regulus and Mulciber jerked their heads in James’ direction. 

“You-“ 

“Let’s go.” Regulus stopped Mulciber from saying whatever he was going to say. They walked in James’ direction. James hoped that Mulciber wouldn’t attack him. He didn’t feel like fighting right now. 

While Regulus walked past James, he stopped; shoulders just inches apart from James.

“Regarde ça.”

_watch it._

Regulus bumped into James’ shoulder harshly, then walked away. Disappearing into the dark hallway.


	7. Year 7: Detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn’t going to post a chapter today, but I will since it’s Remus’ Birthday! 
> 
> Anything for our Moony <3

_September 7th, 1977_

“Will you pass me the orange juice?” Peter asked Mary, his hand extended over the table. 

“Sure,” she handed it to him, spilling a little on James’ untouched plate. 

“Sorry,” she muttered, looking over to see how much she spilled. 

“S’ok.” He replied, not looking up at anyone.  
  


James couldn’t stop thinking about Regulus Black.

He thought about Regulus as he went to sleep. It was a restless, and hot night. James could’ve spelled his bed to be cooler, but he didn’t feel like getting his wand. So he sat there in his own sweat, Thinking. 

Why was Regulus being so cruel to him? 

He sat with Regulus in the library on Saturday, and Regulus seemed just fine when he was alone with James. Sure, at the begging he was a little rude. But afterwards, he was fine. James thought it was nice to sit with Regulus. They didn’t say a word to each other for atleast an hour, but it was still nice to have someone around. James thought they were okay. James thought that if he would be nice to Regulus enough, he could finally talk to Regulus about switching sides. 

Then, Reality hit. Regulus is still a Slytherin, and impossible to reach. James couldn’t change him. No one could. He was too tangled in his friends, and his controlling parents. Regulus hated James. James could tell by the way Regulus looked at him.

James wanted to slap himself. 

Why does he care so much about Regulus, anyway? Regulus wasn’t his brother, nor his friend. There was nothing James could do to change the fate of Regulus Black. James hated himself for even thinking he could. 

His eyes flickered up to the Slytherin table. Regulus was sitting beside Mulciber, quietly eating. No one was talking at their table. No one ever talked at the Slytherin table. They all sat in silence; reading the daily prophet, or just eating. Regulus must’ve felt James looking at him. Regulus eyes also flickered to James, and James looked back down at his plate. 

“How much do you wanna bet they smell like rotten shit right now?” Sirius snorted.

”It’s only been a day. They probably don’t stank that bad.” Remus shrugged, grabbing some jelly. 

“Well, some of them played quidditch Monday. They had to be all sweaty from that. And even if they did use the locker room showers, those don’t even have soap in them. It’s only to hold you off until you can get to a real shower.” Sirius argued. 

“I dunno, I can sweat and not smell that bad.” Remus replied.

”Moony, the only time you sweat is when—“

”Hey, what’s wrong James?” Lily asked, cutting Sirius off from whatever he was going to say. James looked up, eyes shifting to everyone at the table. They were all looking at him with concerned looks. 

“Oh—nothing. I’m fine. I’m just tired.” He shrugged. Which wasn’t a lie, he was pretty tired from only getting about three hours of sleep. 

“Then wake up.” Remus smiled, flicking his straw at James. James snorted, and flicked it back at him. He loved his friends. They always cheered him up when he fell down. James wouldn’t know what he would do without them.

“What is that awful smell!” Mcgonagall hissed, covering her noise. She was walking over to the Slytherin table with a parchment in her hand. Sirius let out the loudest snort a person could possibly make, making people turn their heads and look at him. Lily gave James that look. That look when she was mad. She would furrow her eyebrows together, and slightly poke her lips out.

”What did you guys do?” She hissed. 

“Someone turned our water off!” Mulciber shouted, banging on the table. Mcgonagall looked directly at the marauders. 

“We didn’t do anything!” Peter squeaked. James kicked him from under the table, making Peter let out a loud hiss. 

“I’ll get mr.Filch to fix it.” Mcgonagall slowly nodded at the Slytherin boys. Before she left, she took one more look at the marauders. 

“Way to fucking go, wormtail! She’s definitely going to know it was us!” Sirius groaned, slumping down onto Remus.

”Sorry,” Pete muttered.

“So you mean to tell me we’ve only been in school for six days, and you lot have managed to turn their water supply off!?” Marlene laughed, making a shocking face at the boys.

”James! You’re headboy now! You can’t keep doing this!” Lily hissed, Slightly pushing James.

”Lils, it’s just a joke. Don’t get your panties in a wad.” Sirius groaned. 

Lily rolled her eyes, and stood up.

”I need some fresh air.” 

She stormed out of the great hall, not even looking back at any of them. James watched, feeling a little guilty. He guessed he wasn’t walking her to class today, because she took her bag with her. He always held her bag as they walked down the hall. He sighed, and looked back at his untouched plate. 

“Don’t worry about her,” Marlene said after a few moments of silence. “She'll think it’s funny one day.” 

“Well, we’ve been waiting for that day for seven years.” James muttered. 

____  
  


”I hope you know that you and you’re little _friends_ aren’t funny.” Snape muttered, copying the notes down that Slughorn had written on the black board.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” James shrugged, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Snape looked the exact same, and smelled the exact same. He still had greasy hair, and smelled of old library books. Severus’ face was filled with pimples—so many, it made James’ skin crawl. He thought Snape had terrible personal hygiene. There’s no way he even noticed the water got cut off. 

“You and your little _friends_ turned off our water.” Snape hissed.   
“Surprised you noticed. You look like you don’t even take showers.” James snickered.

”I’ve had enough with you and your friends making fun of me. I hope one day you shut up, and for good.” 

James scoffed. “Who’s gonna shut me up? Not you.”

”What does Lily even see in you?” 

“Why is Lily being brought up? No one didn’t say shit about Lily.” James grunted. 

“Lily-“ 

“Evans, to you.” James spat, raising his voice a little. 

Snape let out an impatient huff. “You and your _friends_ spend all your time worrying about us Slytherins. It isn’t first year anymore. Grow up. Some of us actually have things to do.” 

“What in Godric’s name do _you_ have to do? You have no girlfriend, you don’t play quidditch, and you barley have friends. All you do is read, and obsess over _my_ girlfriend. I don’t think you have shit to do, Snape.”

”Hey! Potter and Snape, quiet down!” Slughorn shouted. 

“Yes sir,” they both muttered. 

“Mark my words, Potter. You and Lily won’t last. There’s no way she would stay with someone as immature as you.” 

Mad, James spilled his ink onto Snape’s parchment. 

“Oops,” he snorted, watching the black ink fill the entire parchment.

“HE JUST KNOCKED HIS INK ONTO MY PARCHMENT ON PURPOSE!” Snape shouted, pointing at James. The entire class and Slughorn looked at James. 

“No I didn’t! My arm slipped!” James argued. He wanted nothing more that to hex Severus. James didn’t think he was ever capable of hating someone, until he met Severus. Snape was the most annoying person James had ever met. James didn’t feel bad for anything he’s done to Severus. He more than likely deserved it. 

Slughorn didn’t say anything. He just went back to helping some students out on their work. 

James could feel himself getting angry. Fuck Snape. Fuck the Slytherins. Fuck trying to be perfect for Lily. Fuck everything. 

The door slung open, altering everyone in the room. It was Mcgonagall. 

“Shit,” James quickly turned back around, ducking his head a little so maybe Mcgonagall couldn’t see him.

”Maybe you’re not so invincible.” Snape laughed, getting out a new piece of parchment.

”Is James Potter in this class?” She asked, looking around. 

“Uh— Yes. James is sitting by Severus.” James heard Slughorn say. _Shit shit shit shit._

“I would like to see James for a moment. He might need to bring his belongings with him.” 

James sighed, and got up. He looked over at Marlene, who had a concerning look on her face. Severus on the other hand, was smiling in pleasure. For a split second, James almost punched Snape. He was already in trobule, anyway. One punch wouldn’t damage him anymore. 

He slowly walked out of the classroom, and walked with Mcgonagall to Dumbledore’s office. He knew the routine a little too well. They get in there, they get lectured, they get detention for a ridiculously long time. Then it repeats itself, until they leave Hogwarts. 

When he got into Dumbledore’s office, the boys were already there. Remus was looking around at all the books, and cool gadgets. Sirius had his eyes closed, leaned back into the chair. Peter was visibly shaking, scared to death. James slowly sat down beside Sirius. Sirius opened his eyes a little to see who it was, then closed them back. 

“I don’t care, at this point.” He muttered, shifting back into the seat. 

“Well I’m headboy, so I kinda care.” 

“Lily is wearing off on you.” 

James didn’t know what that meant, but there was no time to respond. Dumbledore was coming down his stairs. Sirius slightly sat up, and Remus focused his attention to Dumbledore. 

“I’ve seen you four boys in here more than anyone.” Dumbledore laughed, blue eyes were twinkling over his moon spectacles . 

“I was once like you boys. Reckless,” he sat down at his desk, and brought out a basket of sherbet lemons. “Anyone want some?”

”No sir,” they all said. 

He nodded, and put the basket back down.

”So apparently, you four boys have snuck down into the plumbing area, and turned off the water supply for Slytherins. Not only did you turn off the water, but you also charmed their bathrooms to ensure no water could be brought back. Am I correct?” 

All four boys looked at each other before answering. 

“Yes sir. We did it”. Peter muttered. James heard Sirius curse under his breath. 

“All four of you were in this?” Dumbledore asked, still smiling.

”Yes.” They replied in unison. 

Dumbledore’s eyes flickered to James. He felt himself stiffen in his seat, nervous of what Dumbledore was possibly going to say. What if he took away his headboy title? What if he wrote a letter to his parents? Or even worse, suspended him.

“I’m very disappointed in you, James.” Dumbledore said, smile slightly fading away. 

“You’re headboy, now. You need to stop playing around, and get more serious.” His eyes flickered to the rest of the marauders. “All of you need to.” 

“Now, am I saying stop having fun? No. Not at all. It’s your last year at Hogwarts. When you leave here, you won’t be having as much fun anymore. You’ll have responsibilities, jobs, and in the future, kids. So have all the fun you want now, before it’s too late. I just don’t want to see you four in my office again unless it’s for something good, alright?” 

“Yes sir,” they all replied. 

“Now, three weeks of detention. I’m splitting you four up. Report to Mcgonagall’s after school to know where to go for detention.” 

They all stood up, a little tired from the lecture. They should’ve saw it coming, though. When they left out the office, Sirius wrapped his arm around James. 

“You’re not gonna stop pranking, right?” He asked, smiling.

”No. Never. I’m a marauder before headboy.” 

“That’s my boy,” Sirius patted him hard on the back, and then walked towards Moony. 

______  
  


For detention, James had to scrub the prefects bathroom with a toothbrush. Mcgonagall said someone else would be helping him, but he didn’t know who it would be. While he was scrubbing, he thought about Lily. 

Lily talked to him during defense against the dark arts. It was very brief, and casual, though. It wasn’t like a girlfriend talking to their boyfriend. James wished Lily would just let loose, and have fun. It’s not always about school, or about setting the best example. James wanted to leave a mark on the school, so when his name is brought up again in 15 years, people would remember him. He was sure the only things Lily was going to be remembered for when she left, was being headgirl, top in all her classes, and being James’ girlfriend. That’s such a boring way to go out. 

“You gotta be kidding me,” he heard someone say. He turned around, and saw Regulus Black standing there. He had a bucket in one hand, and a toothbrush in the other. James rolled his eyes, and kept scrubbing. He didn’t feel like being bothered today. 

“Hey pots,” he said, settling down on the other side of the bathroom. 

“Don’t say hey to me like you weren’t being a complete dick for no reason on Monday.”

Regulus sighed. “I can explain-“

“What? You wanted to impress your friends?”

”Not impress. I just can’t be all nice and friendly to you around them. They’ll get me in trouble.” He muttered.

”Get you in trouble with _who?”_ James scoffed, putting his toothbrush down.

”maman. She doesn’t like me talking to y’all.”

“Oh,” James muttered. 

“But I don’t see anything wrong with you Gryffindors...” he trailed off his sentence, “I’m actually quite jealous of you all.” 

James jerked his head up to look at Regulus. “Why?”

Regulus also looked up at James. “I dunno, You guys seem like you have fun all the time. Your biggest problems is probably quidditch, and your _girlfriend_.”

James looked at Regulus for a moment. His face was more relaxed. His blue eyes weren’t as cold, and he still had on his school button up shirt. The sleeves were rolled up a little, and his green tie was damp at the end from the water. His lips were slightly parted, and his hair looked very fluffy. So fluffy, James thought about how it would feel to run his fingers through it. 

“Do you feel some type of way that Sirius lives with me?” James blurted. Regulus sighed, and turned so that his back was facing James. 

“I’m not mad. I’m jealous. I’m jealous that he has such great friends that helped him out of it.”   
  


Regulus didn’t have to actually say it, but James knew what he was talking about.

“There’s a way out for you too,” James softly muttered.

”No, there isn’t,” Regulus snapped. “I’m in too deep. There’s no turning back.”’

”There’s always a way out.” James said, a little more base in his voice. 

“You don’t know a damn thing.” Regulus gritted through his teeth, scrubbing harder now. 

“You’re right. I don’t know a damn thing. But, just think about it. _There’s always a way out.”_ James said the last five words a little harder. He could feel Regulus had turned around to look at him, but James didn’t want to look back. He didn’t want to see the cold stare of Regulus.

”Why are you even in detention?” James asked, changing the subject. 

“I didn’t do my transfiguration homework.” He replied. 

“Why not?” 

“I just didn’t want to. That’s why.” Regulus grunted. 

“If you need help, you can ask me. I’m pretty good at transfiguration.” 

“Mm, ok.” 

“I’m guessing you’re here for that prank you did.” Regulus laughed, making James smile a little. He’d never heard Regulus laugh before. It sounded soft, and genuine. 

“Yeah,” James smiled. “I’m surprised you don’t smell.”

“I have my ways.” Regulus said. 

“What?” James looked at Regulus for the first time in about ten minutes. Regulus was now facing James; bent over, and scrubbing the floor. He looked up at James’ with a sly grin. 

“If you ask the room for a shower, it’ll give you one.” 

“What room?” James put his toothbrush down now, confused. James and the rest of the marauders knew every room in Hogwarts. They knew every secret passage, and every secret door. What was Regulus talking about?

”I’ll show you one day.” He simply said, then went back to scrubbing 

“Hey, Pots?” Regulus said after a few minutes of silence. 

“Yeah?” 

“Does Sirius hate me?” 

“I— I don’t think he does. You should talk to him.” 

Regulus sighed, dumping a bucket of water on the soapy floor. 

“He doesn’t want to talk to me.” 

“You sure are talking to _me_ a lot.” James snorted. 

Regulus quietly laughed.“There’s no one else to talk to. We’re gonna be stuck in here together for another hour.”

“Sirius doesn’t hate you, though. I’m sure he would want to talk to you—without arguing.” James chose his words carefully, not trying to say anything that could maybe upset Regulus. 

“Oh, ok.” 

They didn’t say word for the rest of the detention. They didn’t need to, though. James found that having Regulus’ as company warmed his heart in a way he couldn’t describe. 


	8. Year 7: Hogsmeade

_September 10th, 1977_

”Our first game isn’t until November 4th. Dont you think that morning practices-“ Sirius stopped talking to let out a long yawn, “-are a little too early to have, Cap?” 

”Morning practices are never too early to have when we have to win the-“

”Don’t say it!” Sirius shouted, putting his finger onto James’ lips. James watched as Sirius ran to the broom door(which was wood), and knocked on it. James laughed,”you and your superstition.”

  
“Padfoot, don’t you just love the crisp morning air on the quidditch field?” James smiled, slowly opening the door to get their quidditch brooms out. He heard Sirius let out another scratchy yawn. 

“Prongs, you know what’s better? My bed.”   
  


James hummed, and reached up to turn the light on so he could see all the brooms. It felt good outside, and the sun hadn’t came up yet. It was about six in the morning, and James dragged Sirius out of his bed to play quidditch. It was the perfect time to play. No one else was awake, it wasn’t too hot outside, and it wasn’t too cold either. Plus, it made James feel productive when he woke up early to play quidditch.   
  
“You’ll feel better once you get in the—“ James trailed off his sentence, and picked up a broom. It looked like a quidditch broom, but James knew it wasn’t. There was no magic feeling as he held it, and it felt much lighter in his hands. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” James said. Sirius rushed into the closet to see what the problem was. “What’s wrong? Someone didn’t put their broom on the right hook?” Sirius snickered. 

“Those fucking Slytherins! That’s the problem!” James hissed, holding the broom up so Sirius could see it as well. Sirius face changed to a more serious look as he grabbed the broom out of James’ hand. “They think they’re so funny huh?” He muttered, throwing the broom onto the ground.

As Sirius went on about how he’s going to kill the Slytherins in twelve different ways, James looked around for any signs that a Slytherin had been in their broom closet. All four houses had their own broom closets. Each closet was right beside their locker rooms. This was the exact reason James was telling Madam Hooch they needed passcodes on doors, instead of silly locks that could be easily opened.   
  
He looked over at the window, where a note was taped onto it. It was small, but very noticeable. Whoever put it there, wanted James and the rest of the quidditch team to see it. 

_An eye for an eye- Mulciber._

”how do we get our brooms back?” Sirius asked, picking the muggle broom back up to examine it. 

“I dunno,” James replied, turning the light off. He walked out, and Sirius followed behind. James knew that Sirius was probably happy all the brooms were gone. He could get out of morning practice. 

“We gotta get them back.” James heard Sirius say. 

“I’m more worried about the brooms, mate.” James replied.   
  


Sirius scoffed. “Your rich. You can buy the entire team a new broom.” 

“We’ll get them back better. Harder. C’mon, this calls for a meeting.” Sirius hit James on the shoulder before he ran up the hill towards the castle, and James followed; laughing, and shouting his name.   
  
_____

Remus was sitting on the ledge of the window with a warm cup of tea in his hand. He had on a knit green sweater with some brown pants. His hair looked golden as the sun shined on him, and he was smiling. 

“Whats so funny, Re?” Sirius asked, taking the mug out Remus’ hand and sipping some of the tea. He made a disgusted face, then handed it back. “Is that green tea?” He asked. 

“Yes, do you not like it?” Remus replied, moving his legs so Sirius could sit down. James watched them, smiling. He was so jealous, but yet so happy for them. James never seen Lily look at him the way Sirius looks at Remus. Sirius looks at Remus like he was the only person in the room. He sometimes felt out of place, like him and Lily weren’t meant to be. Anytime he felt like that though, he would dismiss the feeling. Of course him and Lily are meant to be. He’s liked Lily since first year. He finally had her now. What was the problem? James told himself needed to stop comparing his relationship with other's. 

”Where’s Wormy? We need to discuss some marauders business.” Sirius said, looking around at the empty common room. It was about seven in the morning, now. People were going to be making their way downstairs soon. 

“He’s still sleeping.” Remus said, drinking more of his tea. 

“Why are you up?” Sirius asked, grabbing to mug from him again. Remus snatched it back with a wide grin on his face. “Why do you keep trying to drink my tea?”

”I’ll go get Wormtail up.” James said, getting up from the floor. He could hear Sirius laughing at something Remus said as he walked up the stairs. 

When he got into their dorm, he’d never noticed how dirty it was. There was clothes on the floor, books scattered everywhere, letters from home, wrappers, homework, crumbs, dirty laundry, and a sandwich Sirius said he was ‘saving for later’ on the floor. He grimaced, And made a note to clean today. They had all been so busy with school, they let their room look like a pig stock. 

He walked over to Peter’s bed, and drew his curtains back. He was laying in a awkward position in bed; mouth wide open, and snoring. James slightly tapped him, and Peter jolted up. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” James stepped back as well, surprised. “The Slytherins have pranked us.” 

Peter got out of bed quickly. He only had on his underwear, and socks. If Sirius or Remus woke him up, he would no doubt try to cover himself. 

“I’ll be down in five!” Peter shouted, running towards the bathroom to fix himself up. When James came back downstairs, Marlene was sitting infront of Remus and Sirius were James had just been. James sat beside her, and she smiled at him. Marlene reminded James of the little sister he always wanted. She had long, curly hair, with blue eyes. Her smile was wide, and lively, and she always smelled of watermelons. She was short. Atleast 5’4. James felt like a giant compared to her. 

“Morning,” she said, putting her arm around James.

”Morning, where’s Lils?” He asked. 

“She left about thirty minutes ago. She wanted to go to the library.” Marlene shrugged. When Pete came down, she got up so he could sit beside James. 

”You lot having one of those little meetings? Can I be it?” 

“Go eat breakfast, Marls.” Sirius hissed. She huffed, then skipped away back upstairs. Once the coast was clear, James spoke. 

“We gotta get the Slytherins back. They replaced all of our brooms with muggle ones.” 

“What can we do?” Remus asked, setting his mug down. There was a long silence before anyone spoke. James couldn’t think of anything they could do that they haven’t already done.   
  


“James! You’re headboy!” Sirius said, face lighting up. 

“Yeah, I am.” James slowly said.

”Can’t you guys change the passwords?” 

“Yeah, but we’ll get in major trobule for it. Especially if it isn’t our house” 

James heard Peter gulp. “Like expelled?” 

“No, Wormtail. Just like— a lot of detention.” He didn’t actually know what the consequences were. He just knew that it was made very clear to not change anyone’s passcodes.

”Let’s do it. Then, we can spell their door to make where only a Gryffindor head person can change it back.” Sirius went on. He seemed like the only person to agree with this, until Remus finally gave in. 

“Alright, fine. Let’s just add more weeks of detention.” He laughed. 

“At this rate, we’ll be spending every night in detention until Christmas.” James replied. Sirius shrugged, “I have detention with Moony. I Don’t know why on bloody earth they thought putting me with him was a good idea.”

James laughed, “They just don’t know, do they?”   
  


______  
  


”Of course they know!” Lily hissed, putting her butterbeer back onto the table. 

“Do they not want to meet me?” James asked, grabbing Lily’s hand from across the table. The three broomsticks was filled since it was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. The small pub was filled with laughter, clinging glasses, loud talking, chairs scooting, and the overwhelming feeling of happiness. 

This was probably the first time James had went to Hogsmeade without his friends. Remus and Sirius stayed back to study, while Peter and Mary helped Marlene plant something for her herbology class. It felt weird to not be surrounded by marauders, but he promised Lily they could have a date without anyone tagging along. 

“They know that we date, my mum and dad just doesn’t like you.” She muttered, pulling her hand away from James. James knew her family felt some sort of way towards James. They wanted Lily to marry a muggle, so the magic line wouldn’t continue. It made James sad to know that he was the reason her and her parents were fighting.

James sighed. “Let’s talk about something else.” He said, grabbing her hand again. Her hand was soft, and small compared to James’. “Tell me something. Anything.” 

“Well,” her face lit up with a smile. “Slughorn said he’s adding you to Slugclub.” 

James grimaced. “What would he do that for?”

  
“Because your headboy! Heads of houses automatically gets added into Slugclub.” 

James slumped down in his chair, and Lily giggled. “It won’t be that bad. I’ll be there, and so will Remus.” 

Remus always described the Slugclub as being boring dinners for wizard snobs. James hated fancy dinners—or really anything that required him to dress nice and use big words he didn’t know the meanings of.

“What do you guys talk about?” 

“What you wanna do after Hogwarts, your classes, what your parents do—oh sometimes he lets us drink wine. The Christmas parties are fun. We get to play secrect Santa, and he plays muggle Christmas music all night. You’ll love it, sweetheart.”

James hummed, and took a sip of his butterbeer. “That doesn’t sound too bad.” 

“No! It’ll be fun!”

James brought out his camera to take a photo of Lily. She had on a burgundy turtle neck and some black jeans. She had on a funny looking hat, the ones James sees painters wear. Her hair was straight, and came down to the middle of her back. She was gorgeous. He had to take a photo of her. 

She covered her face, laughing. “I’m not photo ready!” She hissed. 

“Oh come on! Smile?” He pleaded, looking at her through the tiny lens. She propped one arm on the table, and rested her head in her hand. She smiled so beautifully, it made James smile as well.   
  


“Beautiful,” he whispered, looking at the photo.

______

James found himself in the astronomy tower after doing his headboy duties. He didn’t quite want to go to bed. He wanted some time to himself, to think. He rarely ever got time to himself. There was no room to think outloud—or even at all.

He walked up the stairs, and was instantly greeted with the smell of cigarette smoke. It was fresh, like someone was already up there.

”It’s pass curfew. I would hate to give whoever this is detent—oh.” James face fell as he realized who it was. 

Regulus Black. 

He was leaning over the railing, looking out at the stars. His lips were rosy around the cigarette, and his eyes were a light color of blue. James wondered why his eyes were always a different shade of blue when he saw him. Did it depend on how he felt? 

“Why do I always see you at the most unfortunate times?” James asked, walking over to Regulus. Regulus looked over at him, and a smile nearly twitched in his face. 

“Hey, Pots.” 

“I didn’t know you smoke?” James said, pointing to the cigarette. Regulus let out a puff of smoke, then threw the stick over the railings. 

“Only when I’m stressed.”

”Why are you stressed?” James asked. It sounded dumb to ask when it left his mouth. Why wouldn’t he be stressed?   
  


Regulus let out a low hum, and continued to look at the stars. The sky was clear tonight, and you could see every little bleaming light in the sky. It was beautiful, and calming. 

“Regulus has secrets?” James dramatically gasped. Regulus looked over at him with a smirk. “You’d be surprised at what kind of secrets people hide.” 

“I would like to hear one of those secrets you’re hiding. And I’ll tell you one as well.” James murmured, walking closer to Regulus. Regulus had the most perfect jawline James had ever seen. James wondered how Regulus was single. He was very attractive, even James could see that. James wondered if Regulus was going to get engaged when he turned 17. It was very normal for the Blacks’ to get engaged at young ages. Sirius was set to be engaged when he turned 17, but when he ran away from home, the engagement got called off. 

“You don’t have to tell me anything.” Regulus replied. “I can just read your mind, if you trust me that much.” 

“I have nothing to hide.” James said. James wanted Regulus to trust him. It was the only way he could possibly help him to switch sides. 

Regulus turned so he could face James. His blue eyes locked with James’ eyes. James wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. He felt a pain shoot through his head, then he forced himself to look away. 

Regulus looked away as well, eyes falling to the ground. 

”What did you see?” James asked, his breathing heavier.

”You and your girlfriend. You two seem happy.” 

“Yeah,” James smiled. “I guess we are.” 

“When I was younger,” Regulus said, turning his gaze back onto James. “I played the violin. I was wonderful at it. I used to play whenever I felt sad. It would cheer me up. Until one day, maman snapped it in half. She said It was a distraction, and there was better things I needed to be worrying about.” 

“Oh,” James face fell. “How old were you?” 

“Nine years old.” 

“You should get a new one. Fuck what your mum-“ 

“S’ok, really. It happened long ago. I’m sixteen now, and I probably won’t be able to play well.” 

James smiled, “I bet you were good at it.” 

A smile twitched onto Regulus’ face. It was small, but James could still see it.   
  


They were silent for a moment. James hoped that Regulus saw him and Lily at the three broomsticks, and not somewhere making out. That would’ve been embarrassing. James thought about asking Regulus about the brooms, but Regulus probably wouldn’t tell him if his life depended on it.

“Well,” James said after five minutes of silence. “I’m headin’ to my dorm. The boys are probably wondering where I am.”

“And also,” James said, turning back at Regulus. “You should go to your dorm.” 

“You won’t give me detention?” Regulus asked, his back against the railing so he could see James. 

James shook his head, grinning. “Nah. Just be glad I found you, and not Lils.” 

“Lils,” Regulus muttered. “Is that her nickname?” 

“Yeah. Night, Black.”   
  


“Night, Pots.” 

That night, James couldn’t stop thinking about what Regulus told him. James didn’t know a lot about the Blacks’ childhood. He knew it was quiet, and consisted of them going to fancy dinners, studying to prepare for school, and reading. They barley had fun, and got harsh punishments for wanting to have fun. James remembered a story Sirius told him. Sirius had a toy yo-yo he had stolen from a store. His mother found it, and made him watch as she burned it. James hated their parents. He made a promise he would give Regulus a new violin one day. 


	9. A Flashback: Summer of 1977

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short chapter that gives a little more insight on Regulus since I haven’t done a chapter in his POV yet. Hope you enjoy <3

_August 4th, 1977_

“Do better.” She says.

”Talk proper.” She says. 

“Smile more.” She says. 

“Make no mistakes.” She demands. 

Regulus listens, but only because he has no other choice. He’s not like Sirius, who has friends that’ll take him in if he fails. Regulus is the Black heir. He could not make no mistakes. There was no room for mistakes to be made. 

Walburga sent him to an all boys summer program for the Summer of 1977. Regulus didn’t mind. It was better than being at home, with no one to talk to but the portraits on the walls. 

Regulus’ roommate was Louis Michael. He was a little taller than Regulus, and had sandy brown skin. His hair was curly black, and he had the most prettiest smile Regulus had ever seen. He was seventeen. He had just turned seventeen July 12th. Louis made Regulus nervous. And because of that, Louis was dangerous. 

While Regulus was sleeping, he felt Louis tap him on the shoulder. He tapped him repeatedly, until Regulus had finally gotten up. Regulus looked at him, and could feel his cheeks warm up. Louis had on no shirt, and his hair was messy. His chest looked so soft. Regulus wanted to reach out, and put his hand on his chest. 

_No,_ He told himself. _maman wouldn’t like that.  
_

“Hey, Reggie?” Louis muttered. Regulus liked when Louis called him that. It felt more personal. 

“Mate, it’s six in the morning. What?” Regulus groaned, his voice a little scratchy from being sleep. 

“I wanna watch the sunrise. Come with me.” 

Louis got off his bed, and put on a shirt that was laying on the floor. Regulus also tugged on a shirt, and they headed towards the roof.

When they got to the top, Louis sat beside him. So close, it made Regulus’ heart thump. 

“Y’know, you never told me where you go to school.” Said Louis, bringing out a cigarette. 

“I go to a boarding school in Scotland.” 

“Ah,” Louis muttered, pulling the stick to his lips. 

“I can’t believe we go home in two weeks.” Louis sighed. He looked at Regulus, and handed the cigarette to him. It smelled really bad. 

“Try it.” 

Regulus didn’t want to seem like a wuss, so he did. He put the warm stick between his lips, and instantly began to cough. 

“You’ll get better at it.” He laughed. He threw the stick off the roof, then laid down. Regulus hesitated at first, but then he did the same. The sky looked pink, and it felt humid outside. Regulus felt Louis grab his hand, and Regulus stiffened for a moment. His hand was warm, and about to the same size as Regulus’. Regulus couldn’t describe what he felt. He just knew it felt right. 

“I’ll miss you.” Louis whispered, drawing lines onto Regulus’ palm. He turned to look at Regulus. Regulus did the same, mirroring his position. They stared at each other for a moment— or maybe even an hour.

Louis put his hand on Regulus’ jaw. He leaned in, and kissed him. 

Regulus kissed him back.   
  



End file.
